Post-Amphan support extended by ICAR-CIFRI to the Tribal and SC fishers of Kultali, Sundarbans

17th August, 2020, Kultali, Sundarbans

The outbreak of the Cyclone Amphan into the coastal region of West Bengal on 20th May, 2020 affected the Sundarbans area of West Bengal the most. During the Cyclone, the wind speeds of 150-160 kilometers per hour were recorded in the coastal areas once it made landfall. Many of the Blocks - Basanti, Gosaba, Kultali, Kakdwip, Namkhana, Patharpramima in South 24 Parganas and Minakha, Sandeshkhali, Hingalganj and Hasnabad in North 24 Parganas were ravaged due to the Super Cyclone. The Basanti Block of South 24 Parganas District has a total population of 3,36,717 as per the Census - 2011.

With an aim to support the livelihoods of the fishermen of marginalized communities affected by the Cyclone Amphan in the Sundarbans area of West Bengal, the ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata joined hands with the Kultali Milan Tirtha, a Non-Government Organization.

Dr. B.K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI distributed 5,000 Kg lime, 2.5 tonnes fish feed and 900 Kg fish seed to the adopted 256 fishers’ family (SC - 196 and ST - 60) under the Tribal Sub Plan and Scheduled Caste Sub Plan Programme. He also released the fish seeds in the ponds of the tribal fishers’ beneficiaries.

Dr. Das highlighted the establishment of the three Ornamental Fish Units by the Institute for enhancing the livelihoods of the women of Schedule Castes and Tribes community in Kultali.

The Institute has also initiated the development of a pond of the Higher Secondary School of Kultali stocked with 6,000 fish seeds for the benefit of SC / ST students.

The Amphan’s outbreak in the Sundarbans led to the huge fish mortality along with deteriorating the water quality. In the adopted villages, the Institute’s technical team advised the beneficiaries for immediate cleaning of the ponds manually by removing all the fallen parts of trees and removing the bottom organic matter as much as possible. The team also recommended the dose of lime application according to the pond areas to restore the water quality. Due to COVID-19 Pandemic and lockdown situation, the fishers were provided with the technical advisories telephonically. To cope-up with the fragile state, the tribal populace of Gosaba (58) and Sagar Island (105) were also distributed with the fisheries inputs support.

(Source: ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata)