Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for a fisheries harbour at Hejmadi in Udupi district.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the ₹180.84-crore project, he said the Centre is contributing ₹69.30 crore to the project. The share of the State government is ₹111.54 crore.
He said the Central government has released ₹13.86 crore out of its share for the construction of the harbour. Completion of the harbour will bring down pressure on the Malpe fisheries harbour in Udupi district and the Mangaluru fisheries harbour in Dakshina Kannada district.
He hoped that the contractor would finish work on the project in two years. There will be no compromise on the quality of work to be taken up for the harbour project, the Chief Minister added.
Karnataka, which has a coastline of 320 km and around 8,000 hectares of backwaters, has played a major role in the fisheries sector of the country. Stating that the State government has been implementing various welfare schemes for the fishing community, Yediyurappa said that since coming to power, his government has waived around ₹60 crore of loans taken by fishermen.