Greeva Garg–
Published on: 19 August, 2021 at 10:42 IST
Orissa High Court has directed the State Authorities not to take any coercive actions against 43 prawn farmers until immediate satellite imagery proofing of unlawful aquaculture activities in and around the wetland sites of Chilika and Bhitarkanika National Park get confirmed.
The High Court has directed the collectors of four coastal districts to seek the services of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) for satellite proofing to substantiate that prawn dykes, hatcheries in Chilika, Bhitarkanika are being operated within the prohibited area.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Dr. S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray had expressed strong displeasure over the indifferent attitude of government agencies in ensuring ecological safety of the wetland sites.
“It appears to this court that the refrain is that each of the interveners is supposedly operating beyond the coastal area. Therefore, each of them claims that they do not require to be registered under any Act and they do not have to get a license issued by the MPEDA. The State government is yet to respond to these claims,” the bench stated.
The Court directs that each of the status reports filed by the four collectors will enclose pen drives/compact discs containing the video graphs of all the demolition actions along with their respective status reports being filed by the next date.
The High Court gave the directions referring to the Supreme Court ruling in 2017 asking Odisha among other States to initiate steps for protection and conservation of wetland sites.
Three petitions for intervention against the removal of 43 illegal prawn gheris from the Chilika Lake area in Khurda, Puri, and Ganjam districts and Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara district were filed.
Earlier, the petitions were taken up during a special hearing on August 14. The High Court posted the matter for further hearing on September 23.
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