Balakot:
The trout fish farming industry in the Kaghan Valley is on the verge of collapse due to government negligence and lack of support.
After last year’s devastating floods, trout fish have suffered great losses, with millions of rupees that perished fish. Despite the scale of the damage, the government has not been able to take significant steps towards the restoration of the affected farms.
Fluctuating temperatures of water and frequent outbreaks of diseases have further exacerbated the situation, causing serious losses to the people involved in this industry that was once kind. However, farmers remain deprived of any support or supervision of the government or the fishing department.
In July last year, sudden floods caused mass destruction in the Bhoonja Valley, eliminating several trout farms. To this day, most of these farms are abandoned, without rehabilitation efforts initiated despite the fact that many of them were built through annual development programs funded by the Government (ADP).
The sources reveal that farmers who try to relive their operations in the form of self-help are forced to buy fish seeds of Swat or Gilgit-Baltistan, incurring almost four times higher costs due to transport due to transport and a limited local supply. At the local level, there is no installation to support the provision of seeds.
The Kaghan Valley has two trout hatcheries: one in Shinu Jarid, which is operational, and another in Lhar Banda, which was built at the expense of millions but is now desert, an obvious example of negligence by the fishing department.
Trucha agriculture, which was once a lucrative company that offers job opportunities to many in the region, has now become a company that makes losses due to lack of government support. The mysterious outbreaks of diseases and the floods of last year inflicted mass losses to farmers. This year, the crisis continues as fish seeds remain not available, forcing farmers to travel long distances to obtain it.
