Ban on fishing in Pong Dam reservoir lifted

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, August 1

The Fisheries Department today lifted the ban on fishing in the Pong Dam reservoir. The restrictions were imposed following the onset of breeding season two months ago. The reservoir fish will now be available in markets.

Sprawling 24,000 hectares, the man-made water body is 42 km long and 19 km broad. Last fiscal, it had produced 415 tonnes of fish. As per information, 15 fisheries societies comprising 2,496 fishermen have been issued fish catching licenses. The department had imposed the fishing ban in all rivers and khuds during the breeding season. The reservoir has been producing rahu, mahasheer, mali, singhara, kulbansh and rogal. Singhara fish fetch the maximum price.

Gurcharan Singh, director, Fisheries Department, said the department had targeted to put 70 lakh fish seed in the Pong reservoir by October 31 to enhance production. So far, 57 lakh seeds have been put into the water body. For BPL families, the Government of India had enhanced the annual financial relief during the fish breeding season from Rs 1,800 to Rs 3,000 per month. “The state government has written to the Union Government to lift the restrictions,” he added.