Greenpeace warns of threat
A port development is about to threaten two sites of ecological significance in eastern India, environmentalist group Greenpeace has warned, despite their protected statuses.
The state of Orissa is home to both the Bhitarkanika National Park – the second largest mangrove ecosystem in India – and Gahirmatha, probably both the last and largest habitat of the Olive Ridley Sea turtle.
Greenpeace says both will be damaged by the development of the large deepwater Dhamra port – a joint venture between Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and TATA Steel – in Orissa’s Bhadrakh district, and points out that the usual mass nesting patterns of the turtle – which involves a huge migration of turtles up the beach – have not been seen since the start of dredging operations.