Latest news with #Murrel
Hans India
09-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Fish lovers flood markets on Mrigasira Karte
Hyderabad: Fish markets across the city were teeming with eager customers on Sunday, as people flocked to purchase fish on 'Mrigasira Karte', a day considered auspicious for its consumption at the onset of the monsoon season. Capitalising on the immense demand, fishmongers inflated prices by at least 20 per cent above their usual rates. The fish markets were bustling with visitors, who bought considerable quantities of fish on this public holiday. While Rohu and Catla varieties saw high demand in several markets, Murrel proved to be a particular favourite among wealthier patrons in some areas. Typically retailing at Rs 450 per kilogram, Murrel prices surged to Rs 600 on Sunday, driven by the exceptional demand. Traders estimate that at least 10,000 kg of various types of fish were sold in the city on this single day. Ramnagar market, the largest fish market in the twin cities, opened in the early hours, attracting both wholesalers and individual consumers keen to purchase their preferred varieties. Workers engaged in cleaning fish at the markets were also in high demand, charging Rs 50 per kilogram for their services. Some workers from neighbouring districts even travelled to the city's fish markets, keen to capitalise on the lucrative earnings available on this special day.
Hans India
09-06-2025
- Health
- Hans India
Thousands throng Bathini's famed ‘Fish Prasadam' at Nampally
Hyderabad: Thousands of Asthma patients and persons with breathing issues thronged to the Exhibition Grounds on Sunday to take the famed 'Fish Prasadam' being provided by the Bathini family on the occasion of Mrigashira Karte. Close to 80,000 people consumed the prasadam by midnight and the number is expected to cross over a lakh by Monday afternoon. A septuagenarian died of cardiac arrest while waiting for his turn in the queue lines during the distribution of Prasadam. As part of the century-old tradition, the Bathini Goud's family performed pooja in the wee hours and started the distribution at 9.30 am. Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar along with PCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud, Fisheries Corporation Chairman M Sai Kumar and others inaugurated the distribution of Fish Prasadam. The herbal medicine in the form of a paste along with a Murrel fish is inserted into the patient's mouth. If taken for four consecutive years, the medicine cures asthma, believe many patients. This has been challenged by the scientists, rationalists and other experts. Though the number has come down during the last few years, the patients' tryst with the Prasadam is not dying down as there were several who have come for three to four times consecutively. The Prasadam was not distributed during the COVID pandemic period. The administration had made elaborate arrangements for seamless experience for the asthma patients. The premises were barricaded with 42 queue lines with separate enclosures to manage the crowd. There was heavy police bandobust at the Exhibition Grounds maintaining the queue lines. People not only from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, but several aged persons came from states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other places also arrived, hoping to getting cured from the long pending ailment. Some of them had reached late night on Saturday. While the government provided fish, drinking water, lighting, special buses and other infrastructure, the philanthropist organisations also provided helping hands by organising food, tea and other stalls. The Badrivishal Pannalal Pitti Trust, which has been associated with the Bhathini family, Agarwal Samaj, Kanyakubz Samaj organised a mega food camp for the needy. Similarly, the Jaiswal Samaj and Jadhav Seva Mahila mandal had offered evening snacks to the visitors. Speaking during the occasion, Ponnam Prabhakar said that the Bathini family has been doing a great service to mankind. He said that the family which has been serving the patients should be provided Padmashri by the Centre. He said that the Congress government in the State was also supporting this programme by involving eleven departments. He lauded the Badrivishal Pannalal Pitti Trust for their services, stating that the organisation started their work a week before and provided all the necessary support to the visitors. Recalling his association with the Bathini family since 1995, PCC Chief Mahesh Goud said he had suffered with asthma and recovered after taking the Fish Prasadam. He said that several Pharma companies tried to lure and also threatened them but the family did not buckle under pressure and continued their services. He said that the state government should also recognise their services.
The Hindu
04-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
ADAK caged fish farming project strikes gold in Neyyar Dam, benefiting the local forest tribal community
In July last year, pisciculture experts from the agency for the Development of Aquaculture Kerala (ADAK) surveyed the Neyyar Dam Reservoir to map crocodile habitats and feeding grounds. The ADAK team discerned that the waters adjacent to Amboori village were relatively free of the predatory sem-aquatic reptiles' menace. In 1977, the government released a batch of mugger crocodiles into the reservoir, and their population abounded later. In 2001, the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) studied the crocodile population in Neyyar reservoir after local tribals complained that the species threatened humans and livestock and depleted the fish stock. The ADAK team found the expansive reservoir locality ideal and safe for caged fish farming. Nevertheless, the agency was loath to take chances, so experts used intrusion-resistant underwater netting to protect the fish farming zone from predatory forays by crocodiles looking for easy prey. Over several weeks, ADAK placed 100 floating cages in the reservoir to cultivate fish. Each high-density polyethene (HDPE) cage measured 6 metres in length, 4 metres in width, and 4 metres in depth. ADAK stocked the cages with Pearl Spot (2.5 lakh) and Murrel (50,000) fishlings sourced from its hatcheries at Ayirumthengu and Kulathupuzha in the Alappuzha and Kollam districts, respectively. The ADAK also roped in the local tribal community as stakeholders in the project. Pesticide and fertiliser seepage from nearby plantations and destructive fishing methods had diminished the local fish population, incrementally depriving the forest community of income and protein. ADAK managing director Ignatious Munroe told The Hindu that tribals helped source Satavari Root. The increasingly rare tuber increases fishlings' immunity when mixed with fish feed and fed to them. However, the root grows in abundance in the Agasthya Biosphere. It is a seasonal source of income for forest-dwelling tribes. Moreover, ADAK enlisted the Forest Department and the Eco Development Committee (EDC) to train tribals in the latest caged fish farming methods. So far, 14 families from the Kani forest tribe in the Puravamala settlement have partnered in the ADAK project. Faced with the prospect of poachers raiding the cages, ADAK installed solar lamps and internet-linked surveillance cameras for round-the-clock monitoring. ADAK also provided tribals with inland fishing boats, canoes and fish feed to maintain and monitor the cages. The ADAK project struck gold in May. Tribals used dip nets to scoop fully grown and pricey Pearl Spot, a highly sought-after local delicacy, and Murrel from the cages. ADAK experts had intermittently seeded the cages so the fishlings would reach market size in batches, given that a glut of fish in the market would drastically bring down prices. They valued the total catch at an estimated ₹2 crore. Fish wholesalers and locals flocked to Amboori on May 2 to buy rare freshwater Pearl Spots and Murrel. Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian inaugurated the auction. Several local restaurants serving freshwater fish delicacies, including Mahseer, Rohu, Cutla, Anabas and endemic catfish varieties, are proving a magnet for weekend holidayers from Thiruvananthapuram. ADAK experts feel that caged fish farming has immense scope in Kerala, given its vast backwaters and maze of inland waterways. Similar ADAK projects were under way at the Idukki, Peechi, and Kaki dams.
