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Move to save Olive Ridley turtles backfires

Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneswar

The government responded to the cry to save the Olive Ridley turtles in Orissa and landed up in another mess. For the measures taken to save the turtle now threaten the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of fishermen in the area. And now these fishermen are planning a massive agitation.

The government's measures to protect the rare Olive Ridley turtles, whose largest nesting ground is Gahiramatha beach in Orissa, includes declaring the area 20 kms from the beach as a prohibited zone. The state government has also declaring some other areas, like the mouths of the Devi river and other beach areas, as prohibited zones for limited hours.

This keeps out the boats and small trawlers out, thus affecting fishermen on a coastline that extends 480 kms. So far, the forest department has seized 16 boats and 30 trawlers. According to Shankhanda Behera, president of the fishermen's co-operative society, "It is trawlers from Andhra Pradesh that kill the turtles. If the government can't prevent such unauthorised fishing there is no justification in clamping a blanket ban on the entry of boats and small trawlers that definitely don't harm the turtles."

Perhaps there isn't, but the government is doing just that. And a senior forest department official admitted that 'Small fishermen were badly affected.

"But since it is a prohibited zone, entry has to be banned. The government should come up with some alternative." But if it doesn't, the fishermen plan to take the attack into the government's court with a huge agitation.

According to them, it cannot be turtles or man, only turtles and man.

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