Vadhavan gram panchayat seeks ‘community reserve’ tag for Shankodhar shrine

What makes Shankodhar shrine unique is that it remains submerged for most of the year, only revealing itself for durations of about 30 minutes to an hour, during extremely low (or ‘negative’) tides

Mumbai: The gram panchayat of Vadhavan village, in the eco-sensitive Dahanu taluka, on July 25 passed a unanimous resolution seeking to protect the Shankodhar shrine as a ‘community reserve’ under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Milind Raut, member, Vadhavan Bandar Virodhi Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, said, “The marine environment here is very sensitive. There are sea-fans, zoo-anthus, barnado-pora and gonio-pora corals which are listed in Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Act, 1972. (HT PHOTO)

The shrine is located a few hundred metres away from the headland at Vadhavan Beach.

A copy of the resolution, seen by HT, notes the presence and breeding of commercially important species of fish in the region, like the blackspotted croaker (ghol) and another kind of croaker known as ‘koth’ (Otolithoides brunneus), which are classified as ‘near threatened’.

What makes Shankodhar shrine unique is that it remains submerged for most of the year, only revealing itself for durations of about 30 minutes to an hour, during extremely low (or ‘negative’) tides.

In addition, there are numerous tide pools and tide channels which provide additional niches for more marine organisms. The majority of rocks at the shrine are smothered with thin tube-like structures which are found to be inhabited by Tanaidacean (small, shrimp-like) crustaceans.

These “tube-like structures” are revered by pilgrims as the body of Rama himself. It is believed that after conducting Dasrath’s asthi visarjan, Rama cut off a lock of his hair and left it behind in the ocean, and his hair now “lives” on the rocks of Shankodhar.

“To preserve such a valuable heritage site, it should be declared as a community reserve i.e., community reserve forest, and a 10 km buffer zone should be established around it. This gram sabha is declaring the said place as a biological and cultural heritage site,” the resolution states, translated from Marathi.

HT was the first to report, this April, on residents’ concerns that the port will adversely impact the ecology of the shrine and surrounding sub-tidal region, which falls within the limits of the proposed Vadhavan Port.

The NIO was subsequently tasked with conducting a biodiversity survey, which was done on May 18 and 19 this year, and found that a wealth of marine biodiversity which may be potentially impacted by the construction of the port. These include dolphins, solitary cup corals (Paracyathus profundus) and other “sensitive marine organisms”.

Milind Raut, member, Vadhavan Bandar Virodhi Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, said, “The marine environment here is very sensitive. There are sea-fans, zoo-anthus, barnado-pora and gonio-pora corals which are listed in Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Act, 1972.

“As the primary duty of the forest department is to protect and preserve the habitat of these sea creatures, the forest department has been told that there is an urgent need to declare this area as a heritage site and a community reserve,” said Raut.

“The Vadhavan gram panchayat comes under the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act which gives special powers to Gram Sabhas in scheduled areas for the management of natural resources and upholding rights on indigenous people. So in view of that the panchayat here has taken this unanimous decision to protect the Shankodhar shrine,” Raut added.