Jetty for traditional boats to come up in Bengre

The long-pending demand of fishermen to have a separate jetty for anchoring the traditional boats will be realised soon with MLA D Vedavyas Kamath breaking the ground for the work on Saturday.

The work on the construction of a fish landing/berthing basin for traditional crafts at the Bengre side of Mangaluru fishing harbour would be taken up at a cost of Rs 3.37 crore. The work is being implemented under Nabard Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), said MLA Vedavyas Kamath.

He said the beach landing will be 90-meter-long and will have a 90-metre-long concrete road. When the jetty is completed, around 150 traditional boats can be anchored at the venue. The dredging will be taken up at 2-metre depth, to facilitate the berthing of the traditional boats.

The traditional boat jetty proposal was sanctioned in 2018. Due to various reasons, the work was delayed. As per the tender conditions, work will be completed in 18 months. The MLA said that work on a jetty for domestic commercial cargo vessels was taken up at a cost of Rs 94 crore in Bengre.

When the berth is completed, over 70 cargo vessels upto 5,000 tonnes capacity will be able to berth in the facility. It will facilitate the export of goods from the city, he added.

The berth work will also include dredging. Once the dredging up to seven metres is undertaken, even big vessels can anchor at the berth, he said.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed the government to take up the work on the creek that was damaged when the third phase of the fisheries harbour work was taken up at the Old Port area. The government had sanctioned Rs 22 crore to take up the work on directions of the NGT. The work will begin soon, he said.

Traditional fishermen said that due to a shortage of space, many had incurred losses in high-intensity winds and the rainy season.

Skill training centre

The MLA also laid the foundation for a skill development training centre being planned at a cost of Rs 2 crore at Kasaba Bengre. The funds were released by the minority welfare department.

Once the building of the centre is completed, then women from minority communities will be trained in tailoring and computers. A few sewing machines and computers will be installed at the centre, said the MLA.