Hirakud fish supply to Kolkata to be stopped

The Fisheries department has planned to stop supply of fish produced in Hirakud Dam Reservoir (HDR) here to Kolkata after restriction is imposed on its import from Andhra Pradesh.
Hirakud Dam
Hirakud Dam

SAMBALPUR: The Fisheries department has planned to stop supply of fish produced in Hirakud Dam Reservoir (HDR) here to Kolkata after restriction is imposed on its import from Andhra Pradesh.

The department has taken the decision to meet the demand of the region and provide fresh fish from the HDR to local residents.

Informing this, Deputy Director of Fisheries, Sambalpur Zone Pabitra Kumar Behera said about 15, 000 tonne fish is produced from the Hirakud Reservoir annually of which 7,000 tonne is sent to Kolkata. The brokers purchase the fish from fishermen of HDR and transport it to Kolkata instead of selling it in local markets to make extra bucks, he said.

The undivided Sambalpur district requires about 9,000 tonne of fish annually. While the undivided district gets around 8,000 tonne from Hirakud, the rest 1,000 tonne is imported from AP to meet the fish demand of the region, Behera informed.

The department is planning to put a blanket ban on sale of fish from AP in the region as presence of formalin has been found in the stock imported from the neighbouring State, he said.The fishing ban, which begins from June 15 and continues till August 31, is on in the HDR now. The department will impose the restriction on supply of fish from the HDR to Kolkata after the ban period is over, he said.

Apart from providing fresh fish from Hirakud to the people of undivided Sambalpur, fish produced from the reservoir will also be supplied to cities like Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, Behera said. Traders can keep the fish fresh by using ice which is not harmful for health. However, traders of AP use formalin which causes cancer and is not good for human body. The traders prefer chemical over ice as the latter is expensive compared to formalin, Behera said.   The State Government has already formed a task force to check the quality of fish imported from AP.  

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