Union ministers Jairam Ramesh and AK Antony and Olive Ridley turtles moving into the sea after mass nesting near the Rushikulya river mouth off Ganjam coast (File pictures and PTI)

Bhubaneswar, May 4: Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh has sought intervention of defence minister A.K. Antony to ensure that there is no test firing at the Wheeler Island missile test range during breeding and nesting season of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles.

Ramesh, who had recently visited the Bhitarkanika National Park and sanctuary near Gahirmatha, made the request in a letter to Antony, pointing out that test firing during the turtle breeding season was being carried out on the island in violation of conditions imposed by the Orissa government while granting permission for setting up the missile range.

According to the letter, permission was granted to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for setting up the missile test firing facility on the Wheeler Island near the Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary. While granting permission, the Orissa forest department had imposed certain conditions, including restriction on test firing during the turtle breeding and nesting season.

“I am told that this condition is violated routinely. This has had adverse impact on breeding and nesting of the Olive Ridley turtles,” said Ramesh in his letter urging the defence minister to personally intervene in the matter to ensure that the DRDO complied with the conditions. Ramesh also expected the DRDO to take extra measures suggested by the Orissa forest department to protect and conserve the Wheeler Island ecosystem.

Significantly, this is not the first time that the issue of restricting test firing on the Wheeler Island has been raised by people concerned with protection of the endangered turtles. In the 90s, politician-turned-environmentalist Banka Behari Das ran a campaign on the issue seeking the intervention of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who was then closely associated with India’s missile programme as a scientist. Das had also sought masking of bright lights on the island during the turtle breeding and nesting season which extends from October to March.

For the record, an estimated 3.60 lakh Olive Ridley turtles turned up on beaches of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary between February and March this year for laying eggs. Their biggest concentration was on the beach close to the Wheeler Island missile base.