UDAIPUR (South Tripura), April 2 – Sudden death of tortoises in the lake of Tripureswari Kalibari, one of the 52 pilgrimage centres that embodies the spirit of ‘Shakti”, has become a cause of anxiety for the local authorities here, reports PTI.
South Tripura’s District Magistrate M Nagaraju, who is the temple’s ex-officio principal sevait, said since January last ten tortoises have died in the lake.
“Initially, we thought it was due to contamination but upon testing of the water nothing of that kind was detected,” he said.
However, Animal Lovers Society of Tripura (ALST), blame it on the construction of a concrete embankment by the State Government which has denied the tortoises the natural habitat required for laying and hatching of the eggs.
Besides, polythene bags (used for bringing flowers) thrown into the lake by the pilgrims to the temple result in suffocation and subsequent death of the tortoises after they happen to swallow them, ALST secretary RK Dey said.
He said constant flow of the visitors’ to the temple has also contributed in the decline of the egg-laying propensity of the tortoises as they felt disturbed.
Nagaraju said the State Government has constructed a hatchery in the northern bank for the tortoises to lay eggs.