In order to increase the production of different varieties of fish across the State, the Fisheries Department is all set to initiate the proposal of the State Government suggesting that the department must utilise few polluted water reservoirs within the urban vicinity to promote pisciculture.
The initiative will boost employment, help in ensuring clean reservoirs and will also meet the existing demand of the consumption.
“The Department will initiate this ambitious project after August 15, 2016 with the purpose to increase the production and to provide livelihood to the under privileged people.
The step will also help in conserving the polluted water bodies, as fishes and other water creatures rejuvenates the water reservoirs to an extent,” said, Director, Fisheries Department, Rajiv Ranjan.
At first, the Department will put in several types of air breathing fish inside the ponds and after looking at the sustainability, other varieties of fish will be added consequently.
“The Department has selected few small and big ponds within the urban locality for the pilot project. Ranchi lake, line tank and other polluted ponds will be utilised for the purpose first.Air breathing fishes like Pasa fish, Kawai fish, Nilo Tikka fish will be put inside the pond. These fish breeds grow faster in comparison to other air breathing fishes,” added, Ranjan.
To make the scheme successful in every district, Rs3 lakh has been dispersed for the purpose for carrying out different activities under this ambitious scheme phase wise.
“The fund has been already distributed at lohardaga, Chaibasa, Deoghar and Ranchi for this specific task. As per the proposal, all the districts will cover only those polluted ponds which are located in municipal peripherals. However, the department has not fixed any specific time period to initiate the work but all the districts have been advised to take the task at earliest,” said, Ranjan.
The concept is beneficial in water filtration, apart increasing the production. Moreover, all these fishes can be consumed and will fulfill the requirement of denizens in different ways, Ranjan added.
According to the reports, an estimated 1.35 lakh fishermen in Jharkhand traditionally depend on fisheries and the activity provides secondary source of income and employment to all these rural households.
The existing demand for fish in Jharkhand is partly met through supplies from outside as internal production is not sufficient to meet the demand.
On the other hand, the State has a large number of vast and diverse water reservoirs and can be used for multiple purposes supplementing and complementing agriculture and allied activities.