Turtle conservation project in K’shetra awaits CM’s nod

Vishal Joshi

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, May 3

An ambitious project to conserve a natural habitat of endangered species of turtles at Thana village in the district has got stuck in bureaucratic hurdles.

Sources say the state Wildlife Department had proposed the project pertaining to protecting a biodiversity heritage site, but the case is pending in the Chief Minister’s Office for the final approval.

Once endorsed by the state government, residents of the village, located about 50 km from here on the Ambala-Kaithal road, will be roped in to develop a ‘community reserve’.

A scientific study by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had confirmed the ancient pond as a natural habitat of flapshell and shoftshell turtles.

However, officials say there is also need to identify and document other aquatic animals, including a large number of fish, in and around the large water body.

“The Brahmasar pond is a rare site that wildlife officials discovered by chance during a routine survey of wetlands. Local residents say turtles were there in the pond for decades, but they had no official record,” say an official of the Wildlife Department.

Thana sarpanch Sharda Sharma says the panchayat has passed a resolution to hand over the pond spread on 104 acres to the Wildlife Department. But there is no progress in the case, she adds.

According to the proposal, while the land will remain the property of the panchayat, joint teams of villagers and the Wildlife Department will protect the natural habitat of turtles.

Called ‘bhatal’ in the local parlance, officials say conservation of turtles will boost wildlife tourism in the area.

Dr Chetna Sharma, a birdwatcher from Kaithal, claims to have sited over 100 species of migratory and resident migratory birds at Brahmasar. Villagers do not exploit the pond for commercial activities due to religious sentiments associated with it.