Udupi: A three-day long fish fair, Udupi Matsya Mela – 2017 was organised by the State Fisheries Department and Malpe Development Board for the first time in the history of Udupi/Malpe. The event was inaugurated by Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister for Fisheries, Sports and Youth Empowerment on Friday, March 3.
Pramod Madhwaraj inaugurated the fair by releasing fish into the aquarium prior to which he also inaugurated various fishing stalls, food stalls and aquarium stalls by cutting ribbon.
In his inaugural address, Pramod Madhwaraj said that the Siddaramaiah government had provided highest diesel subsidy to mechanised boats.
State government has provided a subsidy of Rs 125.52 Crore to 3600 mechanised boats, while in Maharashtra only Rs 100 Crore has been released as subsidy for 10000 boats and Rs 85 Crore only for 7,200 mechanised boats in Gujarat, he explained.
“Youth who have applied for feasibility report before 21 November 2016 are being given the reports. Fisher women will get a loan upto Rs. 50,000 with only 2 percent interest and 10 percent interest on subsidy. In all, Rs 272 Lakh has been given as support price to 182 ice plants and Rs 32 Crore provided to develop roads in fishermen areas”, he said.
An estimate of Rs. 192 Crore for the development of Kulai Fishing Harbour Project has been submitted to Centre and aid is expected soon, minister disclosed. “The earlier government was giving Rs 1 Lakh compensation to the victims of boat accidents. After the Congress Government came to power, I had requested the then fisheries minister Abhayachandra Jain to increase it to Rs 2 Lakh . After I took over the portfolio, the compensation has been further hiked to Rs 5 Lakh”, Pramod Madhwaraj said.
The Malpe–Padukere bridge will be inaugurated on March 18 for public use, he said. “Congress government is looking for development and not politics in development. Malpe Beach is one of the cleanest beaches in the country with high cost cleaning machine operating there”, he added.
He expressed joy for the Udupi district fishermen citing the establishment of Deputy Director’s Office in Malpe since earlier they had to go all the way to Mangalore.
Udupi City Muncipal Council President Meenakshi Bannanje, Vice President Sandhya Tilakraj, Udupi Taluk Panchayat President Nalini Pradeep Rao, Sathish Ameen Padukere, CMC Commissioner Manjunathaiah, UUDA President Narashimha Murthy, Dr. Prathibha Rohit, Manjula Shetty, Ganesh Bhat, H S Veerappa, Dr. S M Shivaprasad and other officials and councillors were present on the dais.
