It seems that Greenpeace and other environmental organizations have a habit
making unscientific demands without any scientific datas and inputs. This is
clear from the position with regard to Dhamra Port. These organizations who
claim themselves to work for environmental protection work more on emotional
basis rather than on clear scientific reasoning and logic. On the request of
Dhamra Port Company Ltd (DPCL), L&T and Tata Steel, two of them namely BNHS and
WWF initially agreed to do further environmental studies on Dhamra port way back
in 2005, but withdrew in the last minute. Due to the delaying tactics by the
said organization the construction of Dhamra port was stopped for them for the
period from Nov 2005 to March 2006. But inspite of the stoppage of the work at
Dhamra, both BNHS and WWF withdrew from making further environmental studies on
Dhamra Port.
Similarly after discussions between both the environmental NGOs and Dhamra Port
developers, additional study was agreed upon in Dec 2008 to assess Biological
Impact by Dhamra Port. The study was supposed to be conducted by mutually agreed
upon scientists. The promoters agreed upon for further studies inspite of
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – the world's most
renowned scientific organisation being already involved in the study in Dhamra
since last 2 years.
But similar to last time ( that in 2005), these organizations led by Greenpeace
once again demanded to stop construction of Dhamra Port immediately in February
2009. This demand has no scientific back-up or inputs and was purely made on
emotional basis and it does not have scientific recommendation. However DPCL,
Tata Steel and L&T team showed it preparedness to adjust the schedule of works
including dredging to facilitate the study after due recommendation by the
Scientists team.
It may be noted that IUCN and the MTSG (Marine Turtle Scientific Group)
scientists working with the group have clearly stated that dredging operations
for Dhamra does not and will not affect the Olive Ridley Turtles in Gahirmatha
Marine Sanctuary and its periphery area.