PANAJI:
Endangered Olive Ridley turtles known to use beaches in Pernem and Canacona for nesting have earned a breather with the National Green Tribunal cracking the whip and constituting a panel led by Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) to report commercial activities which threaten their habitats along the Morjim, Mandrem, Galgibag and Agonda beaches.
The panel, also comprising the member-secretaries of GCZMA and Goa State Pollution Control Board, has been directed by the principal bench of the NGT which sits in Delhi and is directed to visit the beaches and submit a report within one month.
Hearing via video-conferencing a petition which alleged the authorities had ignored an earlier order directing them to protect the turtle nesting sites on these beaches, the NGT has asked that the report be filed by e-mail and fixed May 5 as the next date of hearing.
In November 2017, the NGT had directed the GCZMA to ensure that guidelines of the Forest department for protecting turtle-nesting sites along these four beaches are implemented.
Ban on putting up deck-beds in the inter-tidal area, shacks prohibited from putting up external lights, no loud music from 6 pm onwards and a total prohibition on beach parties were some of the directions given by the NGT to the GCZMA in 2017.
Through the current petition, the Goa Paryavaran Savrakshan Sangharsh Samitee alleged that the GCZMA has failed to implement the NGT order and also listed about a dozen hotels and shacks that have violated the directions and endangered the nesting sites.
