Berhampur: Wildlife activists Sunday expressed hope that the proposed sea turtle research centre in Odisha’s Ganjam district will be expedited after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned “turtle trails” near major nesting sites in her Budget speech.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi also said turtle trails will be developed near major nesting sites in Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala to promote wildlife tourism and environmental protection.
This nature-based tourism scheme announced in the Budget will focus on eco-friendly tourism infrastructure, the chief minister said.
Earlier, there was a proposal to set up a sea turtle research centre near the mouth of the Rushikulya River, a major mass nesting site of Olive Ridley turtles.
The location has good communication facilities and is close to Berhampur University and a regional centre of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in Gopalpur.
The forest department had identified around 3.5 acres of government land near Purunabandh for the establishment of the proposed centre, but no further progress has been made, sources said.
“As the Union finance minister proposed the turtle trail, which includes research on the sea creature, we hope the research centre will be expedited with the assistance of the central government,” said Rabindra Nath Sahu, secretary of the Rushikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee, an organisation working on Olive Ridley conservation for several years.
Research on different aspects of sea turtles, including Olive Ridleys, could be carried out in the proposed research centre, Biswajit Mohanty of Wildlife Society of Odisha (WSO) said.
He said it was high time the state government took steps to expedite work on the establishment of the research centre, which would be one of the few such centres in the country.
Berhampur MP Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy said he would take up the matter with the state government and the Union minister concerned and try to establish such a centre.
A senior forest officer said they have already submitted the proposal to the government, which was under consideration.
Officials said a record number of around 9 lakh Olive Ridleys laid eggs at the Rushikulya rookery in two phases last year.
Olive Ridley turtles visit Odisha’s coast near Gahirmath beach in Kendrapara district, the Devi river mouth in Puri district, and the Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam district for annual mass nesting.