At 10 in the morning, Anand Manjhi is returning from Budhni Ghat after catching fish. Our eyes fall on his bag in which all the fish appear to be of the same species. Then, Anand says,
“Getting these fishes is a big thing. I don’t know if I will get these in the future or not.”
Budhni city of Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh is situated on the banks of river Narmada. 30-35 fishermen families here earn their living by selling the fish from the Narmada River. Anand Manjhi’s family has been engaged in this for generations and learned fishing from his father Puran Manjhi. Anand has two brothers, and they work in a factory in Budhni. He mentions fishing does not generate enough income to improve the standard of living of the family.
Anand explains
“We come from the Manjhi community, and have been fishing for generations… I have been going fishing with my father since childhood. Narmada river is our second home, but in the last few years, the water of mother Narmada has become polluted. In the dark of night, water containing chemicals is released into the river. We see all this when we go fishing in the boat early in the morning.”
Anand’s father too Puran Manjhi agrees with this. He says that earlier the water of Narmada was not as polluted as it is today.
“When we come out after taking a dip in the river, our eyes turn red, this did not happen before.”
Blaming the negligence of the administration as responsible, Puran Manjhi says that due to this, “there are very few fish left in the river now, there are not even that many seeds.”
Apart from pollution, illegal sand mining in the Narmada River, changes in rainfall patterns due to climate change and indifference towards boatmen and the Manjhi-Kevat community in the administration’s policies have also put the livelihood of fishermen like Anand Manjhi in danger.
Fish decline due to delay in monsoon
Usually, earlier monsoons used to arrive in Madhya Pradesh by June 15. However, this year the monsoon remained missing till the end of June. Monsoon rains are considered important for the breeding of fishes, due to changes in rain patterns breeding is reduced resulting in fewer fishes being produced. Fish from small river drains flow with rainwater to the Narmada River. However, the lack of proper rainfall keeps these river drains dry, which also results in less arrival of fish.
Mahseer fish once found in abundance and also the state fish of Madhya Pradesh, has reached the verge of extinction. According to Milind Raikwar of the Raikwar Fishermen Committee, Mahseer fish has been rarely seen in the market since 2010. Illegal sand mining in Budhni and Nasrullaganj, illegal construction on the banks of rivers and the administration not doing any work for the conservation of fish species are believed to be the reasons for this. Although the fisheries officer of Sehore district believes that, “if Mahsheer fish is reared properly then it can be saved, there is no special plan for this from the administration.”
“Leases of reservoirs are being given to other castes”
In rivers and ponds, leases are allotted to fishing community committees for 10 years. However, Anand Manjhi says that
“Now these leases are not being given to the people of Kevat and Manjhi communities, rather given to people of other castes. At other places, when we go to catch fish, we are stopped. If there is no reservoir, how will we earn our living?”
Puran Manjhi says,
“The government has done many things for the development of Budhni but has not paid much attention to the problems of the fishermen community. If we catch 10 kg of fish in a day, our family gets fed, but due to inflation and additional expenses, we have to face a lot of problems.”
Not everyone got the benefits of government schemes
In May 2022, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made several announcements for the fishermen community in Budhni itself so that their standard of living could be changed. In these announcements, he talked about setting up smart fish parlours at the local level, the objective of which is to provide a market to the fish farmers. However, the work regarding this has not started yet. In this programme, fishing kits were distributed to 400 beneficiaries and motorcycles were given to 50 fishermen, which are fitted with a basic fishing kit. Fisherman credit cards of 443 fishermen were also approved.
Anand Manjhi says that yes, motorcycles have been distributed to some people. Although we were not aware of this scheme, hence we could not get its benefit.
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