Rs. 100 crore for development of Hejmady fisheries harbour: Minister

Udupi, Jul 28: The existing Hejmady Fisheries Harbour in Udupi district would be developed at a cost of Rs. 100 crore, said Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake.

Speaking to presspersons after visiting the harbour and studying the blueprint for its development on Saturday, Mr. Sorake said that Rs. 100 crore will be provided with a 75 per cent contribution by the Union government, and the rest borne by the State government. An amount of Rs. 60 crore would be spent on constructing a breakwater for the harbour.

The Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for Fishery (CICEF) had already prepared the design for the breakwater. The extended harbour would come up at Hejmady Aleeve. The development of this harbour was a long-pending demand of the fishermen of the area.

He said the government would construct a permanent sea wall at critical reaches to prevent sea erosion in the three coastal districts at a cost of Rs. 275 crore. The critical reaches included Tenka Yermal, Udyavara, Uliyargoli, Hejmady and Padubidri.

Since the people in Tenka Yermal village blamed the breakwater constructed by the Udupi Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL) for severe sea erosion in the area, the UPCL would be asked to dismantle the breakwater constructed for its pipelines after the monsoon, Sorake said.

Sorake said he had visited the office of the coal-based thermal power plant of UPCL at Yellur. The people in the surrounding areas of the plant were complaining of pollution. Since the UPCL had not kept up its assurances of providing drinking water and constructing roads in the surrounding villages, he had instructed them to take them up. He had also asked the company to hire local people.

The State government had allocated Rs. 30 crore for the upkeep of the roads running along the coastline belonging to the Department of Fisheries in the three coastal districts. The money allotted per house construction under the Matsyashraya Scheme had been increased from Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 1.2 lakh, Sorake said.

The quota of subsidised diesel provided for mechanised boats had been increased from 1.25 lakh kilolitres to 1.50 lakh kilolitres. The allocation of kerosene to traditional boats had been hiked from 150 litres to 400 litres per month.

He would urge the Minister of Forests and Environment B. Ramanath Rai to relax the Coastal Regulation Zone norms as done in Goa and Karnataka, Mr. Sorake said.