CHENNAI: A total of 3,717 Olive Ridley turtle eggs were retrieved from Alagankuppam beach in Villupuram district this year, the site where the state fisheries department proposed to cut open the beach for building a navigation channel for twin fishing harbours inside the Kaliveli backwaters.
The fact was revealed by the Tamil Nadu forest department in its affidavit submitted recently before the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which is hearing a petition challenging the clearance granted to the fishing harbour project.
As per the project proposal, about 100 metres of sandbar (beach) in Alagankuppam will be dredged deep enough to allow mechanised fishing vessels from Bay of Bengal to sail into Kaliveli estuary. To keep the barmouth open all through the year, two retaining walls will be built on either side.
The forest department has confirmed that the Olive Ridley turtles visit this shoreline regularly during nesting season every year. Villupuram forest officials record the GPS location of turtle nests before eggs are shifted to a hatchery. The official data, accessed by TNIE, shows nests were found in and around the proposed dredging site.
Syed Muzammi Abbas, principal chief conservator of forests and head of forest force, said, “During 2021-22 at Alagankuppam shore, 33 nests were identified and 3,717 eggs were collected and translocated to hatcheries. The artificial dredging site is located in the nesting site of Olive Ridley sea turtle,” Abbas’s affidavit said.
A forest range officer of Tindivanam forest range said the shoreline between Alagankuppam and Anichanguppam is a ‘favourite’ nesting spot for Olive Ridleys.As per the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification of 2011, the turtle nesting grounds are classified as CRZ-1A, ecologically most sensitive areas, where no activities are allowed except for a few listed in the schedule. Construction of navigation channels and retaining walls is prohibited.
Despite the forest department’s submissions, the state fisheries department said that only very low nesting is observed in the area. “The studies conducted by Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History shows the stretch between Mamallapuram and Puducherry (50 km) experiences a very low nesting site frequency of 1.2 per day per 10 km,” said M Murugesan, executive engineer, department of animal husbandry and fisheries.
In its affidavit, the fisheries department said the forest department was not well acquainted with GPS measuring tools and devices. “The egg collecting watcher Ponnivel was never accompanied by forest guard from Alagankuppam village. The forest department for the past years never recorded GPS coordinates of nesting sites. It was recorded only for the year 2022 using a mobile phone GPS app. GPS in commercial phones is not accurate,” the affidavit said.
Meanwhile, the district forest officer of Chengalpattu has said turtle nesting was observed in Alambaraikuppam area as well. One of the two fishing harbours falls under the Chengalpattu side of the Kaliveli estuary.