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Fisherfolk wriggle under cash crunch
Fisherfolk are wriggling under the cash crunch occasioned by demonetisation of high value currency notes effected on November 8.
Visakhapatnam: Fisherfolk are wriggling under the cash crunch occasioned by demonetisation of high value currency notes effected on November 8.
Around 30,000 people live by fishing and allied activities in the district, which has around 700 mechanised boats and 2,300 catamarans.
Highlights:
- More than half of boats grounded
- Production falls by 50 per cent
Today, less than 40 percent of the boats are venturing into the sea due to delay in acquiring inputs, including diesel, food material, ice and accessories.
``We can purchase diesel by transferring money through NEFT or RTGS, but for other materials, we need to have cash.
Even carpenters, mechanics, suppliers of ice are demanding cash. So, after landing with fish, it is taking 15 days to venture back into the sea due to the delay in getting replenishments,’’ said president of Visakha Dolphin Boat Owners Welfare Association Ch Satyanarayana Murthy.
Murthy pointed out that upon landing boat owners need to pay wages in cash to the tune of Rs 35,000 to eight or 10 crew members and khalasis.
Earlier, the exporting companies were paying in cash and it was easy to pay wages to the workers. “Now they are giving only cheques, which require a few days for encashing.
Even if the cheque is cashed, it is very difficult to draw big amounts of money for paying wages and buying input materials,” he elaborated.
Each boat owner spends around Rs 2 lakh on a 15-day voyage towards diesel, food, wages and other operational expenses.
Murthy said due to these hassles the output of fish had fallen by 50 to 60 percent. Normally the harbour would get at least 40 tonnes of fish each day during the peak season. “Now it has come down to less than 15 tonnes.”
Murthy demanded that the State government should open a special bank branch exclusively for fishing and related activities, failing which the production would continue to remain low.
The situation is same in all other ports. The Andhra Pradesh coast has around 2,000 mechanised boats, of which around 700 are located in the Visakhapatnam fishing harbor.
Another 700 are in Kakinada, while the rest are in Machilipatnam, Nizampatnam, Krishnapatnam and Vodarevu fishing harbours.
