App to update fisherfolk

Mumbai: The city’s fishermen can now see real-time threat of high tides and weather conditions across Mumbai and Thane with a click. The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) along with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has developed a mobile application, m-Krishi, that will give real-time information about length and intensity of the tides and details about rough weather conditions at the sea.

The application will also indicate potential fishing areas in the sea at a particular point of time, to boost the fishing process. It will enable the fishermen to determine when and how deep they can venture into the sea. “This will save their time in searching fish, while also saving fuel consumption in the process,” said Ajay Nakhwa, scientist at CMFRI.

Apart from monetary advantage, the initiative also focuses on reducing fatalities among the fishermen by providing deta-ils on cyclones, tornados, storms and waves of grave heights. “Informa-tion on wind and waves can save lives of fishermen by alerting them beforehand,” he added.

It alarms the fishermen about weather information using different colo-urs such as green, yellow, red, orange and white for winds and waves, which will direct them to decide where to carry out fishing activities.  It also have micro logging feature, which provides current information on marine fisheries and awareness on the relevant issues.

The TCS also continuously upgrades the application to suit the software of common mobile phones in order to cater to more users.