48 freshwater turtles found dead in Maharashtra; no case filed yet

The forest department in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon recovered carcasses of at least 48 Indian flapshell turtles from an under-construction aqueduct in Asoda village, Jalgaon district, on Sunday

The forest department in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon recovered carcasses of at least 48 Indian flapshell turtles from an under-construction aqueduct in Asoda village, Jalgaon district, on Sunday. The development incidentally took place on World Turtle Day, observed globally on May 23.

HT Image

While post-mortem reports of the reptiles were not available till the time of going to press, department officials claimed that the turtles had likely died of heatstroke. “Post-mortem reports will be available only on Tuesday,” said Vivek Hoshing, deputy forest conservator, Jalgaon.

Flapshell turtles are categorised as ‘vulnerable’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red-list of globally threatened species, as they face a “high risk of extinction in the wild.”

The deaths were reported to the forest department early on Sunday by locals from Asoda, where construction work is underway to provide an irrigation channel from Waghur damn to the agricultural fields of Mamurabad village. A seasonal stream known as the Lavki nullah has been temporarily diverted by the contractor to lay the main water pipeline. A biodiversity register, prepared at village level under the mandate of the Biodiversity Act, had previously documented the presence of these freshwater turtles in the nullah.

“It seems that once the kaccha nullah was diverted and the water in it dried up, the turtles living there went to the aqueducts of the main pipeline, which is being built adjacent to the stream. These are metal pipes which absorb a lot of heat. Because there was no mud or water, it is possible that the turtles died of overheating. The pipes were being welded together, which may have contributed to the deaths,” said Hoshing.

Despite the scale of mortalities in this incident, the forest department has not yet registered an offence against the contractor or any other persons under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972, citing that the Indian flapshell turtle is not protected under the law. Justifying this claim, Hoshing referred to a December 2020 judgment of the Supreme Court (SC) against a Kerala resident, George Kurian, in which it was ruled that possession of a specific sub-species of flapshell turtles (lissemys punctata punctata) will not be punishable under WPA. Kurian was found to be in possession of Lissemys punctata punctata (sometimes known as the South Indian flapshell), which the SC ruled this to be different from the species Lissemys punctata (commonly known as the Indian flapshell), which is indeed protected under Schedule 1 of the WPA.

“This is a flippant technicality, and holds no water scientifically speaking. WPA has not been updated since 1972 to reflect changes in modern taxonomy. Scientific names keep changing all the time, but the species remains the same. Lissemys punctata punctata is a sub-species of lissemys punctata, which is afforded the highest protection under the law.A startling number of them have died under suspect circumstances. It warrants an investigation by the forest department,” said Dr Varad Giri, noted herpetologist and taxonomist.

Moreover, Giri added that the 2020 SC order concerns only possession of the animal and not its death.

“You cannot even kill vermin without permission under the law. The forest department needs to do more in asking who is responsible for these deaths,” he said.

When asked for a response to these arguments, Hoshing said, “No, the flapshell is not protected in any schedule of WPA. There is no mention of this specific species, so how can we register an offence? Besides, the incident has occurred on non-forest land, where we have no jurisdiction.”

Experts also pointed out that the exact taxonomy the dead flapshells in Asoda is not yet proven. “It is not easy to simply distinguish only by looking. How the forest department come to the conclusion about the sub-species is not clear,” said one herpetologist working in Maharashtra, not wanting to be identified.