Orissa seeks halt to missile tests during turtle nesting season

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Expressing his displeasure over the test of Agni-III missile Sunday from a launch base at the Inner Wheeler Island at Dhamra - close to a mass nesting site - P.N. Padhi, the principal chief conservator of forest (wild life), said: "The testing should have been avoided."

The launch site is about 200 km from here.

The island is close to Gahirmath marine sanctuary where 700,000-800,000 endangered Olive Ridley turtles nest every winter.

The turtles arrive and congregate in the shallow coastal waters in October and nest between December and March. Most hatchlings emerge by May.

The state government had requested the central government not to conduct missile tests from November to April.

"We are worried they did it despite our request," Padhi told IANS.

"Now mass mating in the water is already over. Sporadic nesting has been reported. The turtles may start mass nesting any time. This is a delicate time," he said.

The state government will write to the union ministry of environment to issue instructions to the defence ministry to defer any more tests in the near future, he said.

Noted environmentalist late Bankabihari Das in 1998 had drawn the attention of the then chief of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and urged him not to test any missiles at the island during the turtle season.

Kalam had responded immediately, assuring that there will be no tests during the season.

"But now the DRDO officials have been ignoring Kalam's advice and testing missiles," wild life expert Biswajit Mohanty told IANS.

"The missile test causes vibration on the ground. The eggs would be affected. Turtles would be disturbed by the sound," he said.

A defence official said DRDO has been keeping their high power illuminating lights off during the turtle nesting season but Mohanty said the step is not enough.