VIJAYAWADA: Responding to the aftermath of Cyclone Arnab, Reliance Foundation is supporting a co-ordinated effort in Konaseema district to retrieve over 180 boats displaced by the storm and to support the livelihoods of fishing communities.
Cyclone Arnab left a trail of devastation across India’s eastern coast, hitting the livelihoods of thousands, in the region. The livelihood of the fishing communities at the Odalarevu and Sakhinetipalli landing centres in the district has been severely affected as several of their fishing boats were stuck in accumulated mud, submerged, while some had been piled against one another in certain locations.
The Reliance Foundation teams did an assessment and decided to respond through a mechanical-retrieval intervention, upholding the organisation’s We Care commitment and intervening in real-time.
Preliminary assessments at Odalarevu and Sakhinetipalli fishing landing centres in Allavaram mandal found 186 fishing boats affected when severe weather conditions displaced vessels from their moorings, trapping them in canals, mudflats and adjoining areas.
Reliance Foundation is working with the Department of Fisheries and Government Authorities in Allavaram mandal, Konaseema district to facilitate the retrieval and safe repositioning of the affected boats through suitable mechanical lifting equipment.
The team will be working closely with members of the local fishing community to identify boats, confirm their locations and then retrieve or reposition boats in a planned sequence, with crane operators in a controlled work area. This intervention will impact the livelihoods of 10,000 people of fishing community in region.