After 20 years, Mumbai’s Versova beach becomes an Olive Ridley turtle nesting site

Forest officers and locals found several hatched Olive Ridley turtle egg shells at Versova beach on Friday morning, after which the Maharashtra forest department confirmed that the beach had, indeed, become a turtle nesting site after two decades. The confirmation comes a day after around 80 hatchlings were spotted waddling into the sea by beach clean-up crusaders and morning walker.

And questions were raised by some naturalists and animal welfare groups about the authenticity of the phenomenon. “There is no further cause for doubt about the authenticity of this wonderful event. We can confirm that Versova is a turtle nesting site as we have uncovered the egg shells. It is a truly inspiring discovery. This was missed by people who raised questions about this on Thursday. We probed further and found evidence,” said N Vasudevan, additional principal chief conservator of forest, state mangrove cell. On Thursday, the hatchlings were spotted around 9.30am by beach clean-up crusader Afroz Shah and his team near Sagar Kutir Wadi. Later in the day, however, city-based environmentalists raised doubts after they could not spot any egg shells on the beach and asked the state to verify the authenticity of the phenomenon. Around 10pm on Thursday, NGO Vanashakti filed a complaint with the state mangrove cell for an inquiry into the event.

“As of now, a total of 103 baby turtles have been counted, of which 80 made their way into the sea on Thursday, another seven have been rescued and released by animal rescue groups, 12 eggs have not hatched but the hatchlings are dead, and another four died,” he revealed. Olive Ridleys are sea turtles found in the warm, tropical currents of the Indian and Pacific oceans. An endangered species, they travel thousands of kilometres in the ocean, with females returning to their original nesting sites within a minimum of two years to lay eggs.

It looks like after the clean-up by crusader Afroz Shah and other volunteers, the site had become favourable for turtle nesting. “There is a high chance that there are more nests in the same area. To avoid them being destroyed, we have deputed 12 forest officers at the site to ensure people do not dig up the beach,” Deshmukh said. “We now have a strong case to set up a turtle rescue centre here; work will start soon. There many details linked to this event that need to be analysed by the department to ensure the smooth movement of these turtles into the sea.”

Over a period of 126 weeks, Shah and other members of Versova Residents Volunteers (VRV) have removed 13 million kg of plastic and other garbage from what was till then the dirtiest beach in the city. They have carried out over 200 beach clean-up operations, have sensitised local residents and slum-dwellers, and moved the state machinery to help them in their efforts. The United Nations has termed their movement as the “world’s largest beach clean-up”.

Shah and three other Versova residents spent the entire night at the beach to protect the nesting site. “It does not matter if people doubt our efforts as what is true will always be reflected sooner or later. Our patience and regular efforts have ensured that this beach has become home for marine species, and we will ensure that we keep it this way,” Shah said.