NAGAPATTINAM: Heeding to requests from the fisherfolk community, the Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare Department has sent a proposal to the state government to upgrade the mini fishing harbour at Nambiyar Nagar in the district at a cost of Rs 35 crore.
The Rs 34.3 crore facility, which was constructed last year, is the first-of-its kind to be set up under the 'Namakku Naame Thittam' (self sufficiency scheme). Following the inauguration of the mini harbour by Chief Minister MK Stalin on March 9, 2023, the local fisherfolk have been seeking the facility’s features such as breakwater structures and the wharf to be upgraded.
The harbour with a capacity to hold 69 mechanised and 423 motorised boats has two breakwater structures running to a length of 310 metres and 365 metres respectively on the northern and southern side. A wharf (diaphragm wall) has been constructed to a length of 82m. Further, a piled jetty was laid for a length of 100m and 11.4m in width.
Around 96,000 sq m of area was also dredged. The project, executed with around 1,300 fisherfolk families contributing one-third of the project cost (Rs 11.43 crore) and a state government funding of Rs 22.87 crore, was accorded sanction on priority taking into consideration the history of clashes between the fishing community in Nambiyar Nagar and those in neighbouring Akkaraipettai.
The Nambiyar Nagar fisherfolk demanded a harbour of their own under the ‘Namakku Naame Thittam’. Upon completion of the mini harbour, Nambiyar Nagar faced issues of erosion on the northern portion of the facility due to the breakwater structures.
To address this, four short groynes were constructed at Rs 10 crore with NABARD funds on March 8, 2024. The current proposal, based on the request of local fisherfolk, aims to extend the south breakwater structure for another 100m at Rs 6.36 crore, increase the diaphragm wall to another 200m at Rs 13.41 crore and dredge another 3,60,000 cubic metres of the navigation channel at Rs 7.56 crore.
Fisheries department Executive Engineer D Rajkumar said the work is likely to start in a year’s time. V Balamurugan, a fisher representative from Nambiyar Nagar, said, "The lengths of the wharf and the jetty at the harbour are hardly sufficient to accommodate our vessels. We seek their immediate expansion."