Tata Power’s ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Gujarat has tied up with an NGO, the Fisheries Management Resource Centre (FishMarc) to ensure sustainability of livelihood for fishermen’s community at Mundra in Kutch district.
For this purpose, Tata Power, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd, is partnering with FishMarc, an organization of experts in cooperative institution-building amongst fishermen and fishing-related activities, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The core component of the initiative is cooperative institution building amongst the traditional marine fishing communities. The action is about freeing the fishing families from the vicious cycle of debt and helping them in marketing of fish and related activities.
Through this partnership, various projects and initiatives will be undertaken to strengthen and expand cooperative institution-building of traditional marine fishery of Kutch. The initiatives will pan across setting up of a credit fund for institutional lending to fisher families, infrastructure facilities for fish handling, storage and quality improvement, capacity building, training, skill development and monitoring and co-ordination of project implementation among others.
The first step of setting up of a credit fund was launched in August, 2013, K K Sharma, ED and CEO, CGPL, said.
FishMarc is a Non-Government Organization (NGO), formed in 2008, for the co-operative institution building in fisheries. It has supported fishing communities across India and helped them organise themselves to market fish, establish controls over inputs and protect their rights as a means to improve and sustain their livelihoods.