KOCHI: The district-level inauguration of the mobile app 'Sagara', which aims at ensuring security of fishermen, was held on Monday. K J Maxi MLA launched the app at a function at Thoppumpady.
The app – a Digital Kerala initiative by the Department of Fisheries and National Informatics Centre, Kerala – focuses on monitoring fishing vessels and registering the crew venturing into the water for fishing. It is available on the Google Playstore.
An awareness class was held to familiarise the fishermen community with the mobile app. Senior officers of the Fisheries Department, Matsyafed, Coastal Police, Marine Enforcement Wing and representatives of boat owners and workers took part in the class.
The app will primarily act as a form of communication between fishermen and government entities to monitor the fishermen and vessels. It will help the Fisheries Department to keep an up-to-date log of the exit and entry of vessels and fishermen who venture into the sea for fishing and return.
To use it, the users have to download the app from the Playstore and register themselves. The app supports multiple languages, allowing the vessel owners/representatives to select their preferred language and register the entry and exit details of the vessels and passengers.
For the app, the details of the fishing vessels and fishermen had been collected from different harbours of the state.