Bhubaneswar: Fishing activities have been banned in Odisha on July 17-18 in view of DRDO’s scheduled missile tests from Integrated Test Ranges (ITR) at Chandipur in Balasore district and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Bhadrak district.
This restriction applies to coastal districts, including Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, and Jagatsinghpur.
The Fisheries department has launched an awareness campaign, urging marine fishermen to return to fishing jetties and harbours by July 16. They have also been advised against venturing into the sea during the missile tests. “The fishermen who are on voyages have been asked to return to the coast by July 16. We are warning through loudspeakers against venturing into the sea. It is absolutely not safe to go fishing in the sea during missile testing. Strict action will be taken against those ignoring the warnings,” assistant fisheries officer, Paradip, Bijay Kar told the media.
The community, which has just come out of the two-month breeding season ban from April 15 to June 14 and subsequent bad weather which stalled fishing activities, has raised concern over the financial impact of the 2-day ban during this peak season. It has urged the department to compensate them for the losses.