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Despite a ban on fishing along the Orissa coast, a large number of rare Olive Ridley turtles were killed and their carcasses found scattered on the beaches along the Chilika lake to Paradip port, official sources said. While conservation groups claimed that at least 12,000 turtles have been killed since November 2007, the state government put the figure at 5,000. More than two lakh turtles visit Orissa coast every year for annual nesting. They lay eggs at Gahirmatha beach, Devi region and Rusikulya river mouth. According to international NGO, Greenpeace, over 4,000 carcasses were found in the Devi region alone till February. "This is well above the average mortality figure of 2,470 recorded in the area in the last seven years", Sanjiv Gopal, oceans campaigner of Greenpeace said. The conservation group apprehends that turtle mortality could be more than the previous years with two months still left for completion of the nesting season of turtles. While lauding the forest department for containing turtle mortality in Rushikulya river mouth, Greenpeace alleged that it had failed in checking movement of trawlers in the Devi region. Gopal alleged that a number of turtles were killed due to unchecked trawler movement near shore water disrupting turtle congregation leading to their death. The claims of the conservation group were supported by the Wildlife Society of Orissa which also blamed the state government for the large-scale turtle mortality in the state’s coast. However, a government spokesperson in the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) dismissed the claim. "We have been successful in bringing down the number of turtle deaths along the coast", senior research officer C. S. Kar said. The sources said the situation in Gahirmatha beach of Kendrapara district was better due to high presence of forest department officials and patrolling by coast guard personnel.Denying the allegation that the government was silent over the issue, Kar said a high level meeting chaired by the chief secretary was held recently to review the situation. "All departments were working in tandem to reduce turtle mortality along the coast as well as in deep sea", he said. Meanwhile, Orissa Wildlife Society Secretary Biswajit Mohanty described that turtles have no future in the state as the administration was not bothered about their safety. Mohanty pointed out that turtles were facing death by falling in the gill nets used for fishing. "This was the reason as to why the government banned fishing during the nesting season of turtles," he said. — PTI
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