Now, tech to help track fishing boats

Visakhapatnam: In order to track and communicate with fishing boats at mid-sea, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) recently installed transponders on 10 fishing boats at Visakhapatnam harbour.
Officials said this is part of a mega-project initiated by the Union fisheries ministry and fisheries department of different states and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the project from New Delhi on Independence Day.
“The Prime Minister would inaugurate the project of transponder installation on Independence Day. The cost of installation of transponders will be around Rs 13,000. The Union government would fund 65% of the cost and we have requested the state government to fund 25%,” said Arijili Dasu, secretary of District Fishermen’s Youth Welfare Association.
Officials at the state fisheries department said coastal Andhra Pradesh is prone to cyclones and tracking fishing vessels during cyclones remains a challenge in the region.
Officials of the executing agency, BSNL, told TOI that transponders would help crew members exchange information through text messages with the control room on shore. “Text messages can be sent in any Indian language upto a distance of 200 to 300 km from shore. Through this, both the sender and responder can share location details and raise an alarm,” said Mahesh Patil, BSNL marketing official.