Kolkata: Waterlogged Rajarhat roads turn fishing spots

KOLKATA: Thousands of fishermen in Rajarhat and Bhangar have been counting losses worth several crores after fish and water from the bheris — which they maintain at a cost of several lakhs every year — spilled into the neighbourhoods as the water bodies overflowed following heavy spells of rain earlier this week, prompting scores of New Town residents to start fishing on the waterlogged roads near their homes. Forecast of heavy rain has left fishermen worried and they have started securing their bheris with nets and bamboo barricades.
“Fish and prawn worth several crores have been damaged or have spilled out of our bheris in the last week and we have no way of recovering this loss. We are also watching viral videos of New Town residents gleefully cheering while catching fish on the road. But who is going to pay for our loss?” asked Mirza Hasan, a fisherman from Machhibhanga village in Bhangar block behind New Town.

Across several villages surrounding New Town, like Machhibhanga, Khamuria, Pachuria, Kulberia, Bamunghata, Kulipara, Sardarpara under Bhangar II and Chandpur divisions of Rajarhat and Bhangar blocks, fishery is the primary profession of more than 20,000 families. Apart from prawn, fish like rohu, carp (katla), labeo bata and mrigal carp are cultivated in these bheris.

“It pains us when we see our months of labour going to waste. Fish have a habit of swimming against the tide. During this monsoon, water from Bidyadhari river has entered our bheris, breaching embankments and fish have swam into the river, slipping into canals like Bagjola. When water from the canal overflowed, they were all over the lanes and bylanes of New Town,” said Hossein Ali Molla, a fisherman from Kulipara.

Piu Mondal, a New Town resident whose video of fishing in a lane beside Uniworld City got 1,54,000 views and 4,200 shares in the last three days, said she had never seen such a scene in New Town. But she added her heart goes out to the poor fishermen who incurred losses.
“I was out on a bike with my brother last Tuesday when we first saw hundreds of fish wriggling in the waterlogged stretch as the bike headlight fell on the water. I called my uncle, who brought a fishing net from an acquaintance and we fished from 10pm to 1.40am. We caught a 5kg carp along with other fish weighing more than 11kg. We had some and distributed the rest among friends and family members,” said Mondal, a homemaker.
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