Morjim turtle nesting site faced threat from illegal beach shacks last season
The forest department's marine range forest officer reported that a number of violations were carried out by illegally operating shacks at the Olive Ridley turtle nesting site at Morjim during the last tourist season.
Subsequently, an inspection was conducted by experts from the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), which confirmed that two shacks were illegally erected in the area.
The inspection report states that the violations included the setting up of two ground floor wooden structures as shacks, two metal fabricated toilets, 38 beach beds covered with 13 temporary sheds, 12 beach beds covered with umbrellas, and eight uncovered beach beds.
Morjim is one of only four Olive Ridley turtle nesting sites in Goa. The turtle nesting season coincides with the peak tourist season in Goa from Nov to Feb.
Although a part of the beach is protected through fencing to prevent disturbance to the turtle nests, during the last two nesting seasons, turtles were also reported laying eggs outside the fenced area, with nearly 100 eggs in each nest. Such nests are shifted by forest department officials and volunteers to the fenced area for protection.
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However, shacks in protected areas can disturb the movement of turtles, which are guided by instinct to the coast of their birth to lay eggs. 'Recently, there have also been a couple of incidents of cars being driven on this stretch of Morjim beaches by tourists,' said a local.
Based on National Green Tribunal's orders, the turtle nesting sites in Goa were declared silence zones in Dec 2020, with strict regulation of tourism activities. This has led to an increase in nesting over the last couple of years. During the recent season, 18,243 eggs were laid along North Goa's coast, a majority of them in Morjim and Mandrem. However, tourism has also continued to grow manifold simultaneously.
Meanwhile, the GCZMA will carry out hearings on the violations in Aug. 'The violating shacks have already been dismantled after the last season ended,' said a local.
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