KOCHI: Finally, fishermen in the Mattanchery region can heave a sigh of relief as the dredging activity along Thoppumpady Fisheries Harbour has come to a halt. The unscientific dredging here had been abstaining the fishermen from fishing due to the increased mud accumulation along the shoreline. Fishermen blame unscientific dredging here for the silt accumulation. In addition, low-tide makes the situation worse by depositing the slush along the shoreline making it difficult for the fishermen to take their boats out into the sea. Fishermen from Mattanchery, Fort Kochi, Edakochi, Thoppumpady, Kannamali, Kumbalangi and Chellanam are worst affected. It has been more than a week since the fishermen took their inboard vessels to sea. “Nearly 25 feet of mud has accumulated on the shoreline between Mattanchery to Karuvelippady. As per an RTI document, owing to unscientific dredging, the channel which used to be 7-metres deep in the past, has now been reduced to a depth of 1.2 metres,” K J Paul, president, Kadal Matsya Thozhilali Union. “The actual procedure to remove the accumulated slush is to collect it from the deposited location, transport it to the outer sea using barges or ships and then dispose it there. However, this is not being done. Now, that the dredging has stopped, there might not be any further accumulation of mud. However, the existing slush needs to be removed for us to get back to fishing,” he added. The union had earlier approached GCDA Chairman N Venugopal and Fisheries Minister K Babu to resolve the issue. Consequently, the minister, MLA Dominic Presentation, Mayor Tony Chammany, the Corporation officials and the union officebearers had visited the area and held discussions regarding the problem. The dredging at the harbour was stopped following the minister’s instructions.
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