First ever Fisheries Polytechnic in Telangana to come up in Khammam

It may be noted the district already has a Fisheries Research Station (FRS), one of its kind in the State, at Palair.

Khammam: The State government has proposed to establish the first ever Fisheries Polytechnic in Telangana in Khammam district.

Fulfilling the long pending desire of the fishermen, students and people in Palair Assembly constituency the government has recently given its nod to set up the institute in Kusumanchi mandal in the constituency. The institute will come up near Palair reservoir, a fishing hub in the district.

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It may be noted the district already has a Fisheries Research Station (FRS), one of its kind in the State, at Palair. The station, established in the year 1977, has been conducting need based research on culture and propagation of cultivable varieties of fish species suitable for aqua farming in the State and transferring the technology to aqua farmers.

With the government deciding to set up Fisheries Polytechnic aqua farmers will further be benefitted in terms of technology development and transfer. The college will help the students gain employment after coming out of the college by catering to the needs of aqua farmers in coordination with officials, stated Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar.

In Khammam there are many water major bodies like Palair reservoir and Wyra reservoir in addition to a large number of tanks where fishing activity has been going on a massive scale. The polytechnic may serve to increase the fish production, which the government has been promoting for the past several years, he opined.

Speaking to Telangana Today the FRS head and senior scientist, Dr. G Vidyasagar Reddy informed that a proposal seeking 15 acres land for setting up the polytechnic has been submitted to the government and it agreed to allot 10 acres land. The process of site selection is underway.

The polytechnic will offer a two year diploma course in fisheries science and will be affiliated to PV Narsimha Rao Telangana Veterinary University, Hyderabad. The intake in the first year will be 20 students, he added.

A government land under Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) has been identified in between Jujjularaopet and Mallaiahgudem in Kusumanchi mandal by the NSP DE, Ramesh Reddy and Fisheries Department AD Anjaneyulu. Soon the site inspection by the local MLA K Upender Reddy and higher officials will be taken up.