(IN) The Hindu - Nath disputes Forest Dept. claim

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Date:17/02/2008 URL:

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/17/stories/2008021759060300.htm

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Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

 

Forest dept.’s claim on turtle death disputed

 

 

 

Santosh Patnaik

 

 

 

VSPCA suspects industrial effluents to be the cause

 

 

 

 

 

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Comprehensive report demanded

 

VSPCA interacts with villagers

 

 

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VISAKHAPATNAM: The Forest Department’s claim on the reason for washing

ashore of several hundred dead Olive Ridley turtles near Parawada has turned

controversial with the Visakha Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

(VSPCA) pointing its needle of suspicion to deadly industrial effluents.

 

VSPCA founder Pradeep Kumar Nath said prima facie they suspected toxicity

as the cause of en masse death of the turtles along the Mutyalammapalem coast

within a stretch of 10 km. during the year-end. “We are not ruling out

combination of factors including toxicity,” he told The Hindu.

 

Meanwhile, VSPCA has sought a more comprehensive report from Veterinary

Biological Research Institute with a second opinion from forensic experts of

Hyderabad, stating that finding of such a large number of carcasses of turtles

notified as endangered was rare. On the finding that non-compliance of trawlers

to use turtle excluder device was the reason, Mr. Nath said the period when the

turtles were discovered dead was not a nesting season in Mutyalammapalem area.

Trawling was also done during the period on the northern side of Orissa coast.

 

He said mating of turtles usually took place in October and November and

the egg formation occurred within 20 to 40 days of the couplings coming to the

beach. Nesting occurs in first week of December. As most of the dead turtles

were female, they were generally found on the shore area and not in the deep

ocean during the period.

 

Mr. Nath said they interacted with villagers where they were told that all

the fish wealth in a pond in the small inland waters had died. The cause was

said to be toxic contents, he stated.

 

NTPC Simhadri and five pharmaceutical companies are located in the area.

“On completion of our concrete investigation, we would like to pursue the matter

with agencies like fisheries and forest departments and Pollution Control Board

along with stake-holders for corrective measures,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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