KOCHI: If all goes as per plans, the caged fish farming project at Mundamveli, which had been in limbo for over a year, will get a lease of life. The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) is planning to invite tenders from private parties to restart the project.
“Since GCDA has no intention to invest more money in the project, we are planning to invite private parties or NGOs to run it. There is no correlation between investment and return from the project. We will be releasing a tender notification soon,” said M C Joseph, GCDA, secretary.
The project, which was set up by the former GCDA chairman N Venugopal by spending Rs 4.5 crore, was shut down following protests by environmentalists. The greens alleged mangroves were destroyed in large numbers to implement the project. Even though the District Collector had submitted before the High Court that no mangroves were destroyed, the new governing body didn’t reopen the project.
“Pearl spot, seer fingerlings and other fish species can bring a profit of over Rs 5 lakh. However, it is not enough to meet the project cost of Rs 4.5 crore. The much-hyped laser show too remains a non-starter. Hence, we are planning to invite a tender for both the laser show and the caged fish farming,” said GCDA chairman C N Mohanan.
Meanwhile, GCDA has initiated steps to cancel the agreement it made with an individual for running the fish farm. “We have issued a notice to the person regarding the cancellation of the agreement he made with the GCDA. The person, however, said there are some outstanding payments the authority has to make out to him. We will be able to kick-start the project only after clearing all these hurdles,” said Joseph.