KARIMNAGAR: It is not just the farmers who are happy, but fishermen too are laughing all the way to the bank in Karimnagar district as Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), the State government’s flagship irrigation project, is bearing fruit.
The project has thrown up enormous potential for fishing in Lower Manair Dam (LMD), leading to the fishermen sending about two tonne of fish, worth about Rs 70 lakh, on a daily basis to Kolkata and Nagpur, taking full advantage of the spin-off benefit.
According to Deputy Director of Fisheries MD Khadeer Ahmed, due to availability of plenty of water in LMD, Labeo fish weighing about five to six kg are available, apart from other species.
About 1,000 fishermen families say their catch has improved drastically which is a pleasant surprise. Khader Ahmed said that his department had provided fishing nets to them at 75 per cent subsidy to help them make most of the available fish in the LMD. The department has also sanctioned five cages for Pangasius and Tilapia fish as they grow well in cages. The Pangasius variety seem to be growing fast in Lower Manair Dam.
According to the officials, about 28.5 lakh fish seed and 11 lakh fresh water prawns have been released. As people are interested in live fish, the fishermen are exporting them in tankers.
While fish are growing healthy due to abundant water in LMD, fish from Mid Manair Dam too are reaching LMD with the flow of flood waters.
Nimmala Suresh, one of the fish traders, said that about five to six varieties of fish are available in the LMD.
“The local fishermen used to hand over their catch for supply to the local market. Now that the catch has increased, they were exporting to other parts of the country. This is all because of the LMD and water,” he said.