The Hindu Business Line : POSCO's port project `will affect turtle nesting'

IF the Korean steel maker, POSCO, is allowed to build a port at Jatadhari near Paradip, it will adversely affect the nesting beaches for Olive Ridley sea turtles in the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, a wildlife conservation organisation warned on Saturday.

"The sea turtles are already threatened on the Orissa coast by illegal mechanised fishing, rapid loss of nesting beaches due to Casuarina plantations and light pollution from industrial activities," the Secretary of Wildlife Society of Orissa, Mr Biswajit Mohanty, said.

In a statement, Mr Mohanty pointed out that a study by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) had revealed the progressive loss of nesting beach area in the Gahirmatha Sanctuary over the last three decades. This loss is attributed to the establishment of Paradip port in 1966.

Stating that there has been a rapid decline in the beach area of the Gahirmatha Sanctuary that lies north of Paradip port, Mr Mohanty said this had resulted in the shifting of turtle nesting grounds from the earlier areas of Habalikhati and Gahirmatha to islands such as Ekakula Nasi I and Nasi II. The turtles were forced to leave secure and stable beaches like Satbhaya, Gahirmatha and Habalikhati and adopt these two islands for nesting for the last one and half decades. Ekakula Nasi I and Nasi II are highly unstable and fragile. Any major storm may wipe them out, resulting in the overnight loss of the largest sea turtle mass nesting grounds in the world.

"Any port on the south side of the Gahirmatha Sanctuary would be disastrous for the nesting beaches, since they would be eroded due to the disturbance caused to the sea currents," Mr Mohanty said. He expressed fear that if the Jatadhari port is permitted, this will add to the existing problem and lead to faster erosion of the Gahirmatha beaches, leaving no mainland beach for turtle nesting. "In addition, Paradip port could also be completely eaten away by sea currents. POSCO should not be permitted to build the Jatadhari port," Mr Mohanty said.

The port project of POSCO-India is facing opposition from other quarters too. The Union Shipping Minister, Mr T. R. Baalu, has expressed apprehension that the POSCO port was likely to affect the Paradip port. Several political parties, including the Communist Party of India, have opposed the port project on similar grounds.

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