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Coast Guard to the rescue of Olive Ridleys

By Our Special Correspondent

BHUBANESWAR DEC. 8 . In expectation of mass nesting by Olive Ridley turtles at three different sites in Orissa — Gahirmatha and Debi river coasts in Kendrapara district and the Ruskilya coast — the Coast Guard has chalked out a new pro-active plan for their conservation.

Speaking to mediapersons here this morning, R.S.Vasan, Commander, Coast Guard Region (East), said they were working jointly with the State agencies and were confident that they would be able to provide adequate protection to the endangered species.

Commander Vasan said the Coast Guard had launched `Operation Oliver' for protecting the turtles, which arrive here in lakhs between December and April.

At a high-level meeting of the State officials with the Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, it was suggested that fishing along mass nesting sites be banned from the beginning of January till the end of March. Commander Vasan said the Coast Guard would deploy Hovercrafts for surveillance.

It was imperative that trawlers operating in the coast use Turtle Excluder Device (TED).

There were about 380 registered trawlers in the State, of which 180 had not been fitted with the TED.

The Coast Guard had taken up the issue with the Andhra Pradesh Government too.

Commander Vasan said Dornier aircraft based at Kolkata and two ships birthed at Paradeep too would be deployed in the conservation effort.

The State Government would ensure that there was no lighting in the coastal areas, as it disturbed the nesting turtles.

The Coast Guard was in the process of acquiring three specialised vessels to combat pollution in the sea.

At the moment, the Coast Guard did not have dedicated pollution control vessels, Comander Vasan said.

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