New Safety Measures In Place To Prevent Disturbance In Turtle Nesting Areas in Goa

As you may have read in our previous “turtle nesting” articles, turtles come under the endangered species category, and the increased tourist activities on the beaches it has affected the process of turtle nesting.

Water sports and other tourist activities have a dreadful impact on turtle nesting. These activities kill the mother turtle and also harm the hatchlings.

The laborers shift eggs to another place to ensure their safety but it is not possible for them to do it every time and gets problematic.

Besides the tourists’ activities, the garbage is carelessly thrown by the visitors, and the shack workers also affect the process. Title babies rarely survive as some die due to the consumption of garbage and some fall prey to other animals around which are also attracted by the garbage.

The baby turtles tend to get confused about their right path due to the shack lights and loud music.

To prevent disturbance in the process, rules and conditions were imposed which said no beach activities would take place after sunset such as; operation of beach shacks, placing of beds, artificial lighting, playing of loud music, and display of fireworks.

The Centre for Environment Education has come up with new guidelines regarding the turtle site management plans for the erecting of temporary beach shacks. In Mandrem and Morjim

The following statements are as per the new guidelines:

• “Shacks on stilts with a minimum clear height of 1 meter between underside of the floor and ground level to be permitted. A mandatory distance of 20 meters must be maintained between each shack in Morjim and 30 meters in Mandrem.”
• “The main structure may be of timber, bamboo, or metal. It is important that the construction methodology followed should be such that the structure can be dismantled easily. The roof structure may be made of timber or bamboo. This structure would be covered with a thatched roof or terracotta tiles (such as Mangalore tiles).”
• “The roof shall be a pitched roof with no portion as a flat terrace or flat roof with a minimum slope of 15 degrees. Wall panels shall be made of timber, thatch, or any other alternative material such as WPC or fiber cement sheets. Railings if any shall be made of timber or bamboo.”
• “A water supply and sewage system layout must be included as part of the design proposal bro the CRZ authorities and no masonry shall be used in the construction of the plinth or any part of the sub and superstructure.”

The guidelines also mentioned that the leveling of sand should not take place and the structure should be raised from the ground in such a way that it does not disturb the sand beneath it.

We as responsible human beings should know that we need to coexist with the animals and the environment around us. With the rapid increase in tourists, we need to take extra care of the endangered species in order to create no harm to the turtles.