PARADIP: As many as 200 fishermen of Sukha Khala slums here have threatened to boycott the upcoming urban local body (ULB) polls in Paradip Municipality as a mark of protest against the non-fulfillment of their demand for a bridge over Taladanda canal.
Besides these dwellers are bereft of basic amenities like motorable roads, drinking water, sanitation, and electricity for more than a decade now.
Although the foundation stone for a bridge over the canal was laid by former minister and local MLA Damodar Rout in 2010 at an estimated cost of `25 lakh and is slated to be completed by 2012, the project is still hanging fire. Despite the tender being awarded to a new contractor, work on the bridge is yet to be completed.
“In the absence of proper roads, we are facing difficulty in transporting dried fish as trucks are unable to reach the area. We have sought the intervention of the Collector, local MLA, chairman, and executive officer of Paradip Municipality time and again but our requests have fallen on deaf ears,” said Sukha Khala villagers.
Contacted, engineer of Paradip Municipality Duryodhan Patel said work on the bridge was slow as water had not dried in the canal. “Construction of pilings has been completed now and the roof of the bridge will also be done soon,” added Patel.
Identified as the dry fish manufacturing area of Paradip, Sukha Khala accounts for 3,500-4,000 tonne of annual yield, drawing buyers from Rourkela, Talcher, Sambalpur, and Bargarh besides other states including Kerala, Chennai, Karnataka, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and other north-eastern states.
These fishermen procure ‘C’ grade fish like small-sized borei, small red prawn, maruna, nanji, kantia, kokoli and puti and dry them. Besides supplying the unused fish to poultry farm owners as feed, fishermen also sell dried fish to them at a cost of `800-1500 per trolley depending on the size of the fish.