Ornamental fish centre by July

Rajasthan’s first centre of excellence (CoE) for breeding ornamental fish will start in Tonk district by July this year.

The centre, being set up near the Bisalpur Dam, is expected to help farmers take up breeding of a variety of ornamental fish and earn money.

Informing about the project, fisheries department minister Prabhulal Saini said that ₹2 crore has been spent on the centre, being built on five-bigha land. The construction of the centre’s main building has been completed.

“Fisheries department will bring around 75 varieties of ornamental fish in first stage, including both oviparous (egg laying fish) and viviparous (offspring laying fish) species,” he said.

“The department officials had recently visited Kerala for bringing the fish. The ornamental fish may be brought from other countries also,” he added.

Saini said that an additional ₹2 crore has been sanctioned for developing a big fish aquarium, hatcheries, fish breeding centre, fishing spots and other facilities at the centre.

“Equipment for controlling the temperature and maintaining oxygen level for the fish at the CoE will also be established,” he added.

Once the centre is developed, farmers will be given training on developing farm ponds and breeding ornamental fish.

“Offsprings of the ornamental fish from the CoE will be provided to the farmers for breeding them at their farm ponds,” he said.

Nowadays, there is great demand for ornamental fish, which are kept in aquariums in offices, houses and shopping malls.

Saini said, “The centre will also sell the fish to other states in the country.”

The cost of the ornamental fish, particularly brooder fish, ranges from as high as ₹25,000 per fish.

The district police is not following the Supreme Court directions on juvenile justice, said Shiv Pal Singh, a member of the Rajasthan Commission for Protection of Child Rights (RCPCR).

Singh was in Ajmer on Tuesday to inspect whether the city police stations and Anganbari centres were properly following provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act or not.

He said the city police officials were not sensitive while protecting the child rights. “I have noticed that officials in police stations are least bothered if provisions of juvenile justice act about the child rights protection are being followed,” he said. “I did not find a single police station in the city having a child help desk or a separate officer detailed (mandatory provisions under the act) to attend aggrieved children coming to police stations,” Singh added.

He reprimanded officials in various police stations of the city for lack of knowledge about the act and directed to update them about the act. HTC