Telangana to release 70 crore fishlings from Aug 30

Fishlings will be released into various water bodies across Telangana from August 30.

Nearly 69.66 crore fishlings will be released into 77 reservoirs, 4,647 tanks of the Fisheries Department and 20,391 village tanks in the State this year. The State government spent Rs 22 crore and had released 29 crore fishlings into various water bodies last year.

The State government’s initiative had resulted in a good fish catch last year. About 2.79 lakh families, which are the members of 3,831 fishermen cooperative societies, benefited from the initiative. Besides growing fish in different water bodies free of cost, the government was planning to construct fish markets in all the districts and provide subsidised vehicles for fishermen to transport fish. All eligible fishermen would be enrolled and new fishermen societies would be formed



shortly, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav told mediapersons here on Monday.

He said that the government, to avoid irregularities in the procurement of fishlings, had assigned the task to a committee headed by Joint Collectors in respective districts using e-procurement method. Further, the release of fishlings into water bodies also would be videographed.

“We have already informed the officials to reject fishlings which are of bad quality. Fishermen should also play an active role in ensuring protection of fishlings until they grow big,” he said. To ensure a speedy distribution of fishlings across all major water bodies, the staff of the Fisheries Department would take help from the officials of Revenue and Panchayat Raj Departments at village level.