Dharma port being built in Orissa is a ‘killing fileld’ of rare Olive Ridley turtles and other marine life, an international environmental organisation, Greenpeace has said. The organisation has demanded that the port be shut down.
Dharma port is being built close to the beaches of Grhirmatha, one of the few remaining nesting sites of the Olive Ridleys turtles in the world. The port has got necessary clearance from the authorities, including environmental clearance.
The construction of the port has just begun. Greenpeace, in a recent move, had said that the port should not have been given environment clearance as the environment impact study for the port site was not correct.
S.K. Dutta, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature group, which conducted the Greenpeace study, said:
Once you have a port it will lead to ancillary development. This is not good news for the local ecology.
Hundreds of Olive Ridleys swim to the Orissa beaches for nesting every year. The port, even in accordance to safety measures required for the environment clearance, will surely have an adverse affect on the local ecosystem. This will surely impact the local species including the visiting Olive Ridleys. The coming up of the port will also have an impact on the local folks who till now depended on fishing. They are already feeling the pains due to mechanized fishing and the construction on the port site.
According to a recent study conducted by the organization, more than 2,000 turtles, rare horseshoe crabs, frogs, dolphins and snakes were killed by mechanized fishing boats.
There is no way you can completely nullify the damage to the ecosystem due to heavy traffic and human activity. Can we not save our ecosystem and do away with ports and beaches at ecologically sensitive places?
Image Source: Greenpeace
Source: Reuters