Coal pit fish farming a big draw for Ramgarh villagers

Time of India

2 days ago

Hazaribag: Shashikant Mahto, a resident of Kujju in Ramgarh, is rearing fish in two abandoned coal mines, which he has taken on lease from the department of fisheries.
The Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) deserted the mines after extracting coal and water gets accumulated in these.
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There are about 100 such abandoned mines in the district.
Shashikant (38), who has taken lease of number 8 and 13 abandoned coal mines in Ara area, said, "The abandoned mines are beneficial for fish farming as compared to ponds, lakes, and other reservoirs as the fishes are safe from becoming prey of snakes and birds in mines. Our fishes weigh between 4kg and 7kg."
In 2010, Shashikant was awarded Rs 5,000 and a cage used in pisciculture by the Ranchi office of the fisheries department for rearing a 15kg katla fish.
"I brought the cage, the first in Ramgarh at that time. I contacted the Kujju Matsyajeevi Sahayog Co-operative Society and the fisheries department for help in starting fish farming in an abandoned coal mine at Kujju area of CCL. I witnessed that the water of a pond used to overflow into an abandoned mine near my house during monsoon.
The fishes that reached the mine used to grow fast."
Speaking to TOI, Shashikant's partner Bhushan Prasad said, "We, 74 fish farmers, formed a co-operative society in 2012.
Today, the society consists of 40 members."
Shashikant, who supplies rohu, katla, and tilapia fishes to Bhabhua, Sasaram, and Gaya districts of Bihar, said, "The mines are about 200 to 250ft deep. Fishes do not go below 25 feet. We catch fish by casting a net to a depth of 15ft. We are rearing fishes in 100 cages, measuring of 6x8 ft. Through this cages, we are getting 70 tons of fishes annually and 4 to 5 tons through pits.
Ramgarh district fishery officer Arup Choudhary said with ponds and other reservoirs, these pits can become a major support system to take the state ahead in fish production.
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Even those involved in this work are earning Rs.2lakh individually every year, he added.
State director of fisheries H N Dwivedi said, "Rearing fish in coal mines is a big deal in terms of taking Jharkhand ahead as a producer of fishes. We have over 100 such pits and at present, we are using 25 for fish farming in districts like Rangarh, Chatra, Dhanbad, Bokaro among others."
There are about 100 open mines in Ramgarh district which have been abandoned after extracting coal. If fish farming is done through cage culture in a mine, then 100 tonnes of production can be obtained from each mine. This will increase fish production in Jharkhand, the income of local people will increase, he informed.