AUGUSTO RODRIGUES
VAGATOR: The file declaring Mhairi Beach at Vagator, popularly known as ‘Dream Beach’, as a turtle nesting ground shuttling from one department to another has raised concerns amongst locals. The locals fear that any further delay could harm the endangered species as tourists drive their vehicles on the shore at night.
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It is pertinent to note that a flippered visitor walked ashore on January 20 and laid 120 eggs.
“We did receive a file from the Forest Department with a request to declare one beach in Vagator as a turtle nesting ground. But we have been unable to process it because the information provided is inadequate,” said Johnson Fernandes, secretary of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA).
“The file must contain reports of the sand quality, a report whether there are environmental hazards on the beach and a beach dynamic report at least. Without these reports, we are unable to take a call,” Fernandes explained.
“The file will be placed before the next meeting and will be sent back to the Forest Department,” Fernandes added.
“We had submitted the past three-year turtle nesting data along with it,” said Prem Kumar Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF).
“In case the need for any other document, usually GCZMA will query us officially and take decision. So far, no official letter has been received from GCZMA on need of further data or report,” retorted Prem Kumar.
Apropos the O Heraldo report: “As forest dept sleeps, rave party takes over turtle nesting beach”, dated January 3, 2025, DCF Kumar had informed that the file was sent to the GCZMA and that “they were the authority to notify to the Environment Ministry to declare the beach as a turtle nesting site.”
“Apart from letters by locals and the Anjuna-Caisua Biodiversity Management committee, the department has received a letter from the local MLA (Delilah Lobo) urging us to declare the beach a turtle nesting ground,” stated Kumar.
“Turtle eggs are much sought after in the market. They fetch a big price and that explains the lack of transparency and the will to declare turtle nesting grounds,” claims herpetologist Aaron Fernandes – See O Heraldo report dated June 17, 2024 – of 7,869 turtle eggs laid in Morjim 2,095 go ‘stolen’.
“People, especially outsiders, who now call themselves locals, tend to rob eggs from their nests. It does happen even now though it has drastically dropped. There were times when I was called to help in translocation of eggs and by the time I reached the nest, there were no eggs,” explained Fernandes.
“Dream Beach is not only used as a place to have these rave parties from dawn to dusk, but plenty of tourists roam on the beach at night with their vehicles and they could easily hurt turtles,” fears Michael Mendonca, a local, who tries to do his bit to save the endangered species.
“The board has been put up by us, but that is not enough. The other day, we came to know from the marks on the sand that a turtle came ashore and went back without laying eggs. This could be because people drive their vehicles at night and there is nothing we can do,” laments Ramesh Naik, member of the Anjuna – Caisua Biodiversity Management Committee.
“The government should at least deploy a cop to stop the vehicles moving on the beach from sunset onwards,” hopes Naik.
The first turtle to walk ashore last year was on December 20 and laid 40 eggs. The next day, a turtle laid 127 eggs and in the end, 17 turtles had laid 1,515 eggs.
