Humma dry fish market brought under Fisheries dept

Ganjam: The long-standing dispute between local panchayat representatives and the Panchudola Yatra Committee regarding the Humma dry fish market has been resolved.

The market, one of the largest of its kind in Asia, has officially come under the jurisdiction of the Fisheries department following a formal government notification and land allotment, which had earlier triggered the conflict.

To oversee the market’s development, a new committee will be formed with the Ganjam district collector serving as chairperson.

The committee’s vice chairperson will be the deputy director of fisheries for the Ganjam Zone, while members will include the district fisheries officer, block development officer, tehsildar, SDPO of Chhatrapur, Humma sarpanch, additional fisheries officer, two fish traders, and three local residents, according to officials from the Fisheries department.

The conflict came to an end during a high-level administrative meeting held Wednesday morning at the market site.

The meeting was attended by Sub-Collector Debasish Baral, Deputy Director of Fisheries Suresh Chandra Behera, BDO Achyutananda Jani, Tehsildar Sukanta Chandra Mishra, District Fisheries Officer Bibhuti Bhushan Sah, Additional Fisheries Officer Subrata Kumar Pattnaik, AFO Bibhu Prasad Swain, Humma outpost officer Subhrajit Samantray, Humma Society member Dhruva Charan Palai, Panchudola Yatra Committee president Santosh Kumar Sahu, cultural secretary Jogesh Chandra Sahu, general secretary Rama Rao Reddy, local residents from eight villages, and traders.

During the meeting, the sub-collector dismissed allegations regarding irregularities in the market’s land allotment, clarifying that the process began nearly a decade ago and that the Fisheries department had taken up the responsibility for its improvement.

One major decision taken during the discussion was to award the market’s management contract through a sealed tender box method for the first time, rather than the traditional open bidding process.

It was also decided that 50 per cent of the market’s revenue will be allocated toward panchayat development.

Expenditure related to sanitation, maintenance, and electricity bills of the market complex will be made according to decisions taken by the society committee, as confirmed by the sub-collector.

Despite the market being transferred to the Fisheries department, the traditional Panchudola Yatra will remain unaffected, the sub-collector assured.

PNN

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