the goan I network
CANACONA
A three-member team constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday completed its inspection of the Agonda coast, following complaints of CRZ violations.
Continuing its inspection from Saturday, the team examined the Agonda beach and took note of alleged violations.
The team consisted of Dy Conservator of Forest (South) Sanjay Waradkar, Goa State Pollution Control Board Member Secretary Ashley Pereira and GCZMA Member Secretary Suhas Ghodse, while Surveyor (Forests) Dilesh Desai also accompanied the team.
The team also visited the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre (TRC), where around 16 pits have been protected by forest department (wildlife) to ensure the safe procreation of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles.
According to sources, the team also questioned the forest staff at the TRC regarding disturbances, if any, regarding the illumination and sound pollution which could be detrimental to the turtles.
Having completed its inspection on Monday, the three-member team covered the entire 2.9 km stretch of the Agonda beach and is expected to visit the Galgibaga coast, the second turtle nesting site in Canacona.
The deputy conservator of forest, the nodal officer appointed by the NGT to implement its directives, was also assisted by Canacona (Wildlife) RFO Vikramaditya Gaonkar.
After inspecting the Galgibaga, Mandrem and Morjim coastal areas, which are also notified as turtle nesting sites, as directed by the NGT, the team is expected to submit its report to the NGT within a month and the next hearing is fixed for May 1.
Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings released into sea
CANACONA: As many as 111 Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings were released by forest department staff from the protected Turtle Rehabilitation Centre (TRC) at Agonda beach into the Arabian sea late Sunday night.
The TRC had received its first mother turtle when it visited the shore to dig up a pit, lay its eggs, bury them and return to the sea on the night of January 16.
The eggs were hatched on the 58th night and if sources at the TRC are to be believed, some more eggs in this pit are likely to be hatched within the next 48 hours.
Incidentally, the mother turtle laid its eggs just near the Rehabilitation Centre and the forest staff did not find the need to shift them elsewhere.
This was the first turtle pit protected by forest department in two Turtle Rehabilitation Centres in Canacona, the other being at Galgibaga.
“We don’t know exactly how many eggs were there as the pit is protected at the same place where mother turtle had laid the eggs,” said a source.
“Late Sunday night, 111 hatchlings were released into the Arabian sea and we expect more eggs to get hatched on Monday night or in the wee hours of Tuesday. Only then can we ascertain the exact count of eggs laid, the mortality rate and the hatchlings released into the sea.”
“Sometimes, a mother turtle can lay as many as 150 eggs, but the average is 120 eggs and there is a 5-10% mortality rate,” the source added.
The TRC at Agonda has 16 pits so far, while the Galgibaga Nature’s Rehabilitation Centre has a lone turtle pit.
