turtle alert 8 Apr 2005

http://www.ioseaturtles.org/headline_detail.php?id=155
Indian Ocean- South East Asian Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding

Hunt for gas runs up against turtle alert 8 Apr 2005

NEW DELHI, March 20: India's endless quest for gas has run up against
the threat this may pose to one of its favourite turtles. Petroleum
Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has been asked to play judge and decide whether
exploration should continue in an area that the Petroleum Conservation
Research Association (PCRA) claims is the breeding zone for Olive
Ridleyturtles. The PCRA is completely opposed to the idea.

''Though exploratory activities are carried out at a distance of 40-60
km from the (Orissa) coast, their lights could have an adverse impact on
(the) turtles,'' argues PCRA executive director Leena Mehendale in a
letter to Aiyar. She says that the turtles are afraid of artificial
lights and the disorientation could see them heading towards land, resulting
in high mortality. Moreover, during the assessment phase, the gas would
have to be flared for several days. ''This flaring is bound to add to the
problem,'' she wrote. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH),
another wing of the same ministry, disagrees with the PCRA assessment.

For one, it says that heavy lighting is not used during drilling.

''Moreover, the point is irrelevant because the drilling locations are
30- 50 km away from the breeding, nesting or foraging areas... Once the
drilling rig moves away after the completion of operations, there are
no light sources in place,'' it said. The DGH seems keen to explore the
area as there have been promising gas finds along this coastline. On the
other hand PCRA, which was asked to look at the environmental impact of such
activity, is worried about the 70-cm long Olive Ridleys. These smallest
of sea turtles swim northwards from Sri Lanka between November and April
for mass nesting on the Orissa coast. This occurs at three nesting grounds?
Gahirmatha, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth. These are
precisely the three exploration sites mentioned in the PCRA report.

The DGH disagrees. ''The distance of the drilling locations are at
least 30-50 km away from the outer boundaries of Devi, Rushikulya and
Gahirmatha breeding areas,'' it has said. Mehendale has suggested a detailed
analysis of the impact that the exploration or drilling activity could have on
the turtles. The Environment Ministry's Multi-disciplinary Expert Group,
that visited the exploration sites, could not come to a definite conclusion
either and agreed that there was a ''need for carrying out more
detailed study''.

Mehendale's fear is that once hydrocarbon reserves in this area are
established, permanent fixtures would come up and construction activity
would increase. The appeal is before Aiyar who has called a meeting of
the PCRA, the DGH and the block operators this month before he announces
his decision.

By Biswajit Mohanty, Wildlife Society of Orissa: 21/3/2005