Jayanta Bhattacharya
By Jayanta Bhattacharya
The soft-shell Nilssonia nigricans turtles, an endangered species found in a lake surrounding the Tripureswari Temple in Tripura's Gomati district, are facing extinction, officials said.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had classified the specimen, popularly known as the Bostami turtle, as extinct in the wild.
The fifteenth-century temple, constructed by King Dhanyamanikya in Udaipur, 55 km from Agartala, is believed to be one of the holiest Hindu shrines in the country and is considered one of the 51 Shakti Peeths.
It is also known as ‘Kurma Pitha’ because the temple premises resemble 'Kurma,' i.e., turtle.
The Tripura government has sanctioned funds for a year-long study to be conducted by the Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation on the Bostami turtles.
Gomati District Magistrate Tarit Kanti Chakma said the study is a priority for both the forest department and the district administration.
District Forest Officer (DFO) H. Vignesh said a meeting in this connection was held recently between the Gomati DM and forest officials.
He said, “A comprehensive study will be undertaken by the Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation, an Uttar Pradesh-based organisation, to determine the current population and its problems. Hatching generally occurs with the onset of monsoon. Accurate population data is lacking due to the absence of scientific studies.”
The turtles are considered a living relic of biodiversity and is protected due to its symbolic significance in religious traditions, he added.
Spread over 6.4 acres, the Kalyan Sagar lake was a natural habitat of the turtles. However, around two decades ago, the temple committee cemented the banks of the lake, which led to the death of several turtles, officials of the state fisheries department said.
According to experts, the construction of the embankments increased the mortality of the turtles, spoiling the natural habitat as well as places for laying eggs.
"As an amphibian, it is extremely essential for the turtle to have sandy exposure, which is not available in the lake after the construction of walls around the waterbody," said Mrinal Kanti Dutta, a former professor of Central Fisheries College, Lembucherra, near here.
Jyoti Prakash Roy Chowdhury, an environmentalist and former member of the state Wildlife Board, said the animal had problems basking on the banks as the embankments were cemented.
Roy Chowdhury suggested, “One side of the embankment needs to be dismantled and land near the lake be acquired so that the turtles could lay eggs comfortably.”
Sources in the fisheries department said shifting of the animals from the pond is impossible due to the religious belief of locals.
A population of these turtles was identified in the kacha pukuri (pond) on Nilachal hill, next to Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, Roy Chowdhury said.
These turtles were traditionally believed to be nearly extinct and only available at a pond of the shrine of Hazrat Bayezid Bostami in Chittagong, where there are around 150 of them.
He said, “It has been found that at least one wild population still exists in the Jia Bhoroli River, a tributary of Brahmaputra in Assam.”
Roy Chowdhury suspected that there may be some genetic problems as breeding is taking place within a small community in the lakes or ponds.
“So, exchange of population and breeding among the new communities is needed to avoid any genetic problem,” he added.