The State Government has been continuously sensitising marine fishermen about the coastal security aspects, and they are provided with Biometric Identity Cards.
Fisheries and Animal Resources Development (FARD) Secretary Bishnupada Sethi presented the details on action taken by the State Government so far the fisheries sector and fishermen at a review meeting on the Coastal Security System (CSS) chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Mumbai on Thursday.
Sethi said fishermen in 777 coastal villages in the State have been provided 2,53, 844 Biometric Identity Cards (BICs). The State’s coastal fishermen’s population is 3,42,289, all of whom would be provided BICs soon.
He said camps are being organised to take photographs in all the coastal districts for preparation of BICs.
Odisha is making online registration and assigning colour codes to the fishing boats, which is assisting these boats while crossing inter-State boundaries. Over 22,000 boats have been registered, and 19, 286 boats have been provided with colour coding, said Sethi.
He also said that continuous monitoring of fish landing centres is being done. While in India there are 1537 fish landing centres, Odisha has 73 such centres, which are kept on close watch against entry of suspicious elements through sea route.
Sethi pointed out that funds provided for construction of jetties are not adequate. Rs3 crore to Rs4 crore is required for construction of a jetty, but only Rs2.5 crore has been provided for construction of five jetties. So, the State Government has taken steps to upgrade the existing jetties for berthing of fishery vessels. A plan estimate has been sent to the Union Government for approval, said he.
He also informed the meeting that mobile advisory services introduced in the State since 2013-14. So far, 3,18,000 fishermen have been covered under the programme and 14,192 messages have been communicated to them.