Bhubaneswar, Sept. 17: The much-awaited modern kiosk to sell all varieties of fish, including special ones from Chilika Lake, will open shortly near Siripur Market.

Odisha State Fishermen Co-Operative Federation (Fishfed) will start its first modern fish kiosk in the city by the end of this month or the first week of October. Six more will come up soon after. There is also a plan to raise the number of kiosks to 20. The aim is to give people an experience of buying fish in air-conditioned and hygienic surrounding.

Though the idea to open 20 modern fish kiosks by Fishfed was floated in 2013, it could not be done due to lack of availability of land either from the general administration department, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) or the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA).

Agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy took special interest in promoting the venture and held discussions with the authorities of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT).

Vice-chancellor of OUAT Manoranjan Kar proposed a site near the Siripur Market (see picture) for the first kiosk to come up. The outlet will have freezers, display aquariums to store fish for sale and also a washroom.

“As the land given by the university authorities is adequate, we are also making some seating arrangements outside the kiosk for people to wait for their turn if the outlet is full,’’ said Fishfed managing director Umesh Mohanty.

The construction of the Fishfed outlet at Siripur is being done with insulated PUF (polyurethane foam) so that the refrigerator can work properly. The fisheries department is going to invest around Rs 25 lakh for the construction process.

The Telegraph first reported on August 19 last year about Fishfed’s plan build modern kiosks to sell fish across the city. In doing it, Fishfed is replicating Udyan Fresh, which sells vegetables at 22 locations in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

The Siripur kiosk by Fishfed will provide fresh water varieties such as katla, rohu, mrigala and China rohu. The marine assortments will include pomfret, prawn and hilsa and Chilika varieties such as khainga, khuranti and Chilika prawn apart from crabs and lobsters at reasonable price.

The fish supplies from Chilika will be made by nearly 300 fishermen societies registered with the fisheries department.

Main attraction of the kiosk will be availability of live fish at reasonable price for the customers. Other processed fishery products such as prawn pickle, dried fish and dried prawn will also be sold.

The kiosk aims to provide the delicacies in hygienic condition for the fish-loving citizens of Bhubaneswar.

Fishfed officials said the kiosk at Siripur would also be replicated at other places in the city and even in places such as Cuttack, Rourkela and Berhampur.

“After the successful launch of the first kiosk at Siripur Market, the fisheries department will establish six more kiosks with funds from National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) at various places of the city. To do this, the administration department, the municipal corporation and the development authority will be approached by our officials,” said a senior Fishfed officer.

If they fail to provide land at prime localities, then the fisheries department will try to open the kiosks on land available near its own offices in the city. “However, we hope that the authorities will come forward to support us in this noble venture,” said Umesh Mohanty, the Fishfed managing director.