Orissa High Court Registers Suo Motu PIL On Olive Ridley Turtle Deaths

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the state government in response to a PIL over the large-scale Olive Ridley turtle deaths along the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary.

While registering a PIL suo motu, the High Court issued notices to the Collector of Kendrapara district and the Secretary of Forest and Environment department. The Registrar (Judicial) suo motu registered the PIL on the basis of a media report on the large number of deaths of Olive Ridley turtles since January, The New Indian Express (TNIE) reported.

According to the report, 800 turtles have died along the Odisha coast since January 2021. This was evident from the carcasses washed ashore, on the beaches stretching 30 km along the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary and nearby areas from Silali to Nasi beach.

The bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray fixed Friday for a hearing on the PIL along with the responses to the notices. The bench has also appointed advocate Mohit Agarwal as Amicus Curiae to assist the court in the matter, the report added.

The rookery at Gahirmatha was declared a marine sanctuary in 1997 by the state government. It may be noted that the state government had  imposed a ban on fishing activities here, around 20 km off the shore from November 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021.

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