Posted on January 26, 2026
CHAPORA, ANJUNA: Mainte nance dredging at the mouth of the Chapora River during the nesting season of Olive Ridley turtles has shocked turtle enthu siasts, leaving many questioning the urgency of the work. Dredging activity began on De cember 30, 2025, and was halt ed on January 7, 2026, allegedly due to machine failure. Work resumed on January 10 and was stopped the following day, before being restarted on January 21, 2026. Locals claim dredging continued past 9 pm. “I am shocked to know that work was going on at night. The tender document clearly states that no dredging is allowed at night. If it has happened, I will send my officers to check and take necessary action,” said a surprised Captain of Ports (CoP), Octavio Rodrigues. According to herpetologists, male and female sea turtles mature in the ocean and migrate to shallow coastal waters to mate near offshore nesting sites. While male turtles return to feeding grounds in the sea, females come ashore to lay eggs and return to their feeding sites only after the nesting season ends. News of the dredging has gone viral, with prominent environ mentalist, writer, and founder of Sanctuary magazine and the Nature Foundation, Bitto Sahgal, stating: “The turtles are guests of the people of Goa and are critical to the health of the beaches, the local people, and tourists.”
“They are global travellers and return to the same beach where they were born to nest when they reach adulthood,” he said. For Sahgal, “disturbing the nesting site and its sur roundings is critical to the survival of this Schedule I species listed under India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. They are entitled to the highest level of legal protection. It will be detrimental to the brand equity of Goa to harm or discourage the turtles in any way.” Based on documents accessed by O Heraldo, the Cap tain of Ports said all necessary permissions — environ mental, forest, and CRZ — are in place. “We were pushed to start the work in December because we feared the ire of local fishermen could spill onto the roads,” confessed CoP Rodrigues. “They have been protesting because they could not take their boats out due to sandbars that had formed,” he added.
“This work has been pending for years,” Rodrigues said. “We could not start it last year due to unseasonal rains. Contractors have been told to comply with detailed instruc tions, keeping in mind that this is turtle nesting season.” “In order to attract quality tourists, we need to protect beaches and turtles,” Sahgal said. “We only talk about the number of tourists. Mass tourism of low quality is destruc tive. This dredging should have been done months ago and stopped in December, before the turtle nesting period. It could have continued in March, after the hatchlings safely return to the sea.” Explaining that his department is aware of the impor tance of turtles, Rodrigues said the work order includes safeguards for their protection. “We did think of shifting operations to March, but the company says it will not be possible at that time of the year because of swells. The dredging boat has to remain stationed, and with high swells in the afternoon, work is not possible,” he explained. “A few years back, we tried to get a company to dredge the place free of cost by allowing them to use the dredged material,” Rodrigues said. “However, after soil tests, the company felt it was not found financially remunerative, and the plan was abandoned.” “Vagator falls in a CRZ-III area where sand mining and dredging are prohibited activities. It is very disturbing to see blatantly illegal activities along Goa’s coast — whether violations of noise limits, failure to protect turtle nesting sites from over-tourism, or breaches of CRZ rules. I see this as yet another incident of violators cocking a snook at authorities tasked with protecting our coast and at local fishing communities who have sustainably used the sea and coast,” said Dr RoshniKutty, South Asia Coordinator, ICCA Consortium–Marine, and member of the Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group. An officer in the Mantralaya, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated: “The company entrusted with the work has been given strict guidelines to ensure no damage is done to turtles. Over Rs 5 crore has been awarded, and trying to shift the project at this juncture is not plausible.” For turtle enthusiasts, however, the issue goes beyond cost. “Olive Ridley turtles have been declared endangered because we did not care about them before. If left with no option, we will approach the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court,” warned Satyan Harmalkar, member of the Anjuna Biodiversity Board.
