Shillong, June 25: Meghalaya State Planning Board (MSPB) said it would soon conduct a spot inspection to verify the claim that a total of 27,000 fish ponds have been constructed under the Aqua-culture mission.
“I have sought for a comprehensive report from the department on the matter. After receiving the report I would accordingly conduct a spot inspection district wise for verification,†MSPB chairman, Lambor Malngiang told reporters here on Monday.
He said it was informed that around 27,000 fish ponds have been already sanctioned under the Aqua-culture mission with expenditure to the tune of nearly Rs 400 crore.
Stating that the annual demand for fish in the state is about 31,000 metric tons, Malngiang however said that the fish production in the state is only 6,000 MT.
“In view of this, if 27,000 fish ponds have been sanctioned, we expect that the import of fish should come down drastically,†he said.
On the other hand, the MSPB chairman said that the government wants to encourage people to construct fish pond not only to ensure citizens get to consume fresh fish but it will to a great extent address the chronic problem of unemployment in the state.
Meanwhile, the MSPB is still waiting for reports from different departments on the various programmes implemented under the Integrated Basin Development Livelihood Programme (IBDLP) before submitting a white paper to the state government.
“We have given time to all the departments to complete the exercise before the end of this month,†the chairman said.
