Farakka barrage construction dries up hilsa, jumbo prawns supply in state

Varanasi: After the construction of the Farakka Barrage, hilsa disappeared completely from the Ganga, said Arvind Mishra, deputy director of the fishery department presently posted at Jhansi. The Farakka Barrage lacks proper fish passes, restricting the migration of hilsa that grows in a marine environment, but migrates to fresh water for breeding, he said, adding that even giant fresh water prawn have disappeared from the region.
According to a 2012 report of the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) on the status of hilsa in the Hooghly-Bhagirathi river, in the past (pre-Farakka barrage period), the hilsa in the Ganga river system used to migrate up to Agra and Kanpur in years of abundance, while in normal years, the fish used to migrate up to Allahabad .
Following the commissioning of the Farakka barrage, hilsa fisheries upstream of the barrage have been negligible in most of the fish landing centres. The CIFRI report estimates an average 92% reduction in hilsa catches upstream of the Farakka barrage. The report of the Ganga River Basin Management Plan (September 2013), prepared by a consortium of seven IITs, also claims that earlier, hilsa used to travel over 1,200 km in inland water up to Allahabad for breeding.
However, the construction of Farakka Barrage in 1975 drastically altered its behaviour. Now, hilsa breeds in the fresh water area and gradient stretches of the Hooghly near the barrage and is restricted to the estuarine zone. Its migration to the fresh water zone beyond the Farakka has been badly hit.