Astarang/Bhubaneswar: The lockdown has not only brought untold miseries to the humans, it has also caused wanton damage to the biodiversity of Astarang as the wildlife here has been severely endangered, thanks to the laxity of the Forest department.
“Several trees are being felled during the lockdown every day due to the lackadaisical approach of the Astarang Wildlife Range officers. Hundreds of trees are being cut in Jahania section and thousands of casuarina trees are being felled in Sahan section near to Devi river mouth. The heavy loss of casuarina forests has put the lives of thousands of spotted deer, wolves, rabbits and other animals in utter danger,” said a wildlife activist.
This apart, the coastal villages are bearing the brunt of sand erosion owing to lack of forests.
Interacting with Orissa POST, Soumya Ranjan Biswal, a member of Odisha Paryavaran Sangrakshan Abhiyan, said, “No preventive measures are being carried out by the Astarang Range Office authorities. Moreover, in the last few days more than 2,000 eggs of Olive Ridley turtles were damaged. If the conservation work does not resume, other eggs will also get destroyed.”
Predators like hyenas and jackals are digging holes around green boundary of hatcheries to damage the latter, he said. “Around 80 per cent hatchlings are yet to come out. Unless turtle volunteers perform their duties and protect the eggs by staying at night near the off-shore camps, the predators are very likely to damage all the nests,” he added. Another challenge is to protect about 10,000 spotted deer in 150 sq km forest area of Konark and Astarang wildlife range, Biswal said. The problem of water scarcity forces many spotted deer to stray into the nearby villages in summer season and become the victims of stray dogs.
The forest dept is serious abt nesting sites of ridley turtles. Can same monitoring be extended to neighboring Astarang range to preserve rich biodiversity of the region!!! @Naveen_Odisha @ForestDeptt @BKArukha @surenmehra @susantananda3 @cms @moefcc https://t.co/OGV6PG0Z4v
— Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) May 17, 2020
So, the Wild Life division should prepare a strategy to tackle the situation before the commencement of the summer every year, the activist suggested. Creation of water bodies inside forests, proper food arrangements are the need of the hour to save the wildlife.
Releasing the injured deer into the wild is not the only solution. “We should understand their needs and to do something for their conservation. Water bodies needed to be dug in every 5 km radius before every summer,” he added.