Death Of 800 Olive Ridley Sea Turtles: Orissa High Court Constitutes Panel To Study The Cause Of Deaths, Give Suggestions For Their Protection

The Bench of Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar and Chief Justice B. P. Routra was hearing suo-moto PIL [In Re: Olive Ridley Turtles] which was registered toking into cognizance Down to Earth Magazine's report (dated 04^th February) based on the death of around 800 Olive Ridley sea turtles.

On 24^th February, the had issued notices to the Government of Odisha, among others, to apprise the Court of the steps taken to deal with the crisis on an urgent basis.

State Government's submission

An affidavit dated 25^th February, 2021 was filed by Divisional Forest Officer, Mangrove Forest Division (Wildlife), Rajnagar which enlisted the steps taken for protection and monitoring of turtles from November, 2020 till March, 2021.

Some important points in the affidavit:-

• As per the decision of the High-Level Committee for protection and conservation of Olive Ridley Sea turtles, chaired by the Chief Secretary to Government of Odisha, the DRDO authority at Wheeler Island and the Dhamra Port authority has been dimming the lights at their respective establishments near the nesting beach during the season;
• The missile testing is also being kept on hold during this period. 30 boats involved in illegal fishing in Gahirmatha (Marine) Wildlife Sanctuary have been seized and 167 persons have been arrested.
• 15 floating buoys are being installed along the boundary of the sanctuary to prevent the entry of fishing trawlers and the process of such installation will be completed by March, 2021
• Because of the efforts of the stakeholders, the mortality of turtles has reduced significantly to less than 50% this year as compared to previous years. 3.

Further, the Amicus Curiae, pointed out how the area where fishing activities have been completely banned extends to 20 kilometers off the coastline and length-wise, it is a distance of 70 kilometers.

He suggested that such a large area cannot be effectively monitored by the coast guards and that it might be useful to have Thermal Imaging Cameras (TICs) installed at various critical points along the coastline to enable an effective check of illegal fishing activities.

In response to this, the State Government was directed to examine the feasibility of installing such TICs immediately so that during the nesting season that can be an effective check on illegal fishing in the area.

Court Forms 3-member committee

With a view to ensuring that the earlier directions issued by this Court are being followed and whether, in fact, the steps as claimed in the affidavit dated 25^th February 2021 are being taken and have the desired effect, the Court considered it appropriate to constitute a three member team, comprising:

• Dr. Kartik Shanker, Professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore,
• Susanta Nanda, IFS, Director Environment holding an additional charge of CEO, Chilika Development Authority, Bhubaneswar and
• Mohit Agarwal, learned Amicus Curiae to undertake a visit to the two major nesting sites i.e. the Gahirmatha (Marine) Wildlife Sanctuary and the Rushikulya beach and submit a report to this Court, not later than 10^th March, 2021.

Further, the Court directed that it would be open to the team to interact with the local population, the fishermen, and any other party who may be involved in the aspects of conservation and protection of the ecological biodiversity in the area.

Apart from ascertaining whether the directions issued earlier have been complied with the team has been directed to verify what is stated in the affidavit filed today by the State.

Lastly, the State Government was directed to extend its complete support to the team by providing, travel, transport, and other arrangements including providing for the safety and security of the team.

The case has been listed for further hearing on 15^th March 2021.

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