When 76-year-old Garikina Appanna heads to the sea at 2 a.m. to cast his net for a good catch, his wife Arremma starts feeling a sense of insecurity. This becomes routine every time her husband ventures into the water world for fishing. Like her, a number of women in Fishermen Colony near Appu Ghar share how insecurity grips them every time their husbands left home to get a catch. The oldest fishing hamlet that forms a part of both Moolapelem and Vasuvanipalem is a place where over 6,000 people live. In 1960, the fisherfolk made the seashore near Appu Ghar as their home. Then we were staying in thatched houses and a major portion of the colony used to be a farmland where paddy and a variety of millets used to be grown. Since our huts used to get washed away in the floods, a dedicated housing colony was initiated by the government in 1979. Eventually, Fishermen Colony began shaping up in 1981, reminisces Mr. Appanna, a fisherman and a retired employee of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust. Decline in fish catch A sharp decline in the fish catch and eventual profits over the last few years led the fisherfolk to opt for other sources of income. The prime reason for a considerable dip in the catch is contaminated seawater. Letting out untreated effluents from the sewage treatment plant located in Lawson’s Bay Colony is the main cause attributed to fall in the fish population, observes Yellaji, a resident of the colony. The unbearable stench emanating from the storm water drain that passes through the area and open drains that dot the colony streets turn to be a major blot. During monsoon, the low-lying areas in the colony are prone to inundation as UGD lines get blocked and manholes that dot the lanes overflow. As a result, we have to wage a battle against mosquito-borne diseases, explains Ratna Prabha, a homemaker in the colony. The fishermen residing in the area say that a proposal for a dedicated shelter has been mooted as the facility would not only help them repair and store their fishing nets but also be more organised.
2016, The Hindu