Mangaluru: The fish carnival organized by Pilikula Nisargadhama was inaugurated at Pilikula here, on May 17.
Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim inaugurated the Fish Carnival symbolically by angling in the Pilikula boating pond.
Addressing the mediapersons, DC A B Ibrahim said, “In 1996, the then DC thought of starting an amusement park in Pilikula. Now, people from around the country come here to spend their leisure time in Pilikula Nisargadhama. But the present youth are addicted to modern gadgets and they do not show any interest towards nature. They sit inside the four walls and enjoy with modern gadgets. Today, the crowd is very good which shows that the people are very much interested in fishing.”
He further said that the main focus of the district administration is to introduce some activities for the youth to attract the towards nature. “This is our first attempt to attract youth. In the coming days, we will organize many such programmes to reconnect the youth with nature. We have also organized surfing for the surfers on May 29.”
“There are a few glitches in this event and we will correct them in the coming days. We are planning to start a fishing club for fishing enthusiasts. They can join the club and the registration for the membership will be announced soon. Once they have joined the club, the members can come to Pilikula for angling.”
Despite the hot, humid climate, the Fish Carnival saw a large number of anglers flocking at the edges of the boat pond to get a good catch, while a few stood on specially made platforms, waiting patiently for the floats to drop. Besides the fishing competition, there was also an auction, where fishes like Catla, Rohu, Common Carp, etc. were bid upon. Fish of many kinds were also being sold by the Karnataka Fisheries Development Corporation.
Chairman of Sri Devi Education Trust Sadananda Shetty, Director Pilikula Biological Park H Jaya Prakash Bhandary, Executive Director S A Prabhakara Sharma, KAS(Rtd), ZP CEO Sreevidhya, MLC Ivan D’Souza, Fisheries Joint director V K Shetty, Yathish Baikampady and others were also present.
