The Thengaithittu Fishing Harbour is all set for a facelift with upgradation and renovation of infrastructural facilities being taken up at a cost of Rs. 15 crore. It is aimed at providing facilities for fishermen on par with international standards.
The modernisation work is being carried out by the Project Implementation Agency (PIA) of the Puducherry Government under the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction Project (CDRRP) funded by the World Bank.
The project aims to increase the resilience of coastal communities in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to a range of hydrometeorological and geophysical hazards, along with improving the capacities of project implementation entities to respond promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency, according to a release from World Bank.
According to a senior official in PIA, the project which comprises various components is being implemented in a phased manner.
An Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) with a capacity of 1 Million litres per day (MLD) is also being established at the harbour at Rs. 3.27 crore to treat the waste water at the fish processing, packaging and forwarding areas at the harbour.
Work orders have been issued and the ETP will be ready in the next nine months.
The project also includes a modern mechanised slipway with winch rooms, boat making and repair yard and the extension of the existing quay of 330 metres by another 200 metres. The quay will accommodate more number of boats and fishermen from adjoining coastal hamlets in the.
The mechanised slipway will enable fishermen in hauling and repairing their boats the slipway will be connected to the boat making and repair yard and around six boats can be repaired at a time.
In June, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy launched, along with other schemes, a World Bank-aided modern ice plant that would ensure a steady supply of ice blocks to fishermen, vendors, boat owners, traders and exporters operating out of the Puducherry Fishing Harbour in Thengaithittu.
The plant with a capacity of 40 tonnes is expected to serve the need of fishworkers in the area who have been dependent on private enterprises.
The ice plant is also an initiative under the CDRRP of the World Bank. The project aims at increasing resilience of coastal communities to disasters, focusing on new initiatives in risk reduction and mitigation, and sustainability of fisheries resources, as a follow-up of reconstruction projects after the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
The ice plant, built in an area of 800 square metres, has a 54 tonne refrigeration capacity compressor and a 120 HP motor.
The plant is equipped with Distributed Generation (DG) power and solar panels in the case of power failure.
Under the CDRRP, the PIA has also taken up construction in the Karaikal fishing harbour of slipway, power room, winch room and boat repair yard, ice plant and fish processing unit and Effluent Treatment Plant.
