The stink and stench raised at the Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour gave a bitter experience to Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman during her maiden visit to the city on Saturday.
“It smells like hell,” was her immediate reaction during her hour-long visit.
She inspected various facilities, including auction rooms and selling/drying platforms, after interacting with mechanised boat and trawler operators.
“The conditions prevailing at the fishing harbour are deplorable. The hygiene is very bad. The drains are not cleaned regularly. It is full of flies and other vectors,” she remarked, saying that fishermen were being forced to work in such unhygienic conditions.
Ms. Sitharaman was accompanied by Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu, MPEDA Chairman Leena Nair, Visakhapatnam Port Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu, and senior officials.
Her visit was preceded by complaints by fishermen that the civic authorities were discharging untreated sewage into the sea. There were no toilets for fisherwomen and vendors frequenting in hundreds to the jetty. The garbage cleaning schedule was not intimated in advance to the stakeholders by the civic officials.
Later, she ordered the authorities to launch a clean-up operation immediately and raise funds through various sources for better upkeep of the jetty as Visakhapatnam was the main hub for seafood exports from Andhra Pradesh.
Association of Indian Fishery Industries president Y.G.K. Murti told The Hindu that the European Union was not entertaining consignments from Visakhapatnam due to “dirty” tag attached to the fishing harbour.
