By Rajesh Kumar Behera
The religious sentiments of the Khadipala villagers related to a fresh water soft shell turtle has bent down the forest officials and the local administration to take possession of the turtle .Finally, the officials returned with empty hand on Wednesday as the orthodoxical god fearing people refused to hand over the turtle to the forest officials .
If sources are to be believed, the Ranger of Mahakalapada forest Range, Mihir Pattnaik, the Executive officer of Pattamundai NAC,Basant Kumar Pal, and a police team went to Batu Baba’s temple in Khadipala village under Pattamundai police station, where the endangered fresh water Soft Shell turtle was kept and worshipped by the locals and the adjoining villagers , in order to take possession of the turtle and to release the endangered species at the nearby river .But , about 400 people ,including more than 250 women , protested the move of the forest officials and denied to hand over the turtle at any cost as the villagers believing that the turtle is the incarnation of God following two black spot on its carapaces resembles to the eye of the Lord Jagannath .
Many residents were seen in making queue to take a glimpse of the rare turtle and to get an opportunity to worship the turtle .Villagers chanting hymns and carrying garlands, bowls of rice and fruits are pouring in from remote villages in front of the turtle has become a common sight at Batu Baba’s temple at Khadipala. Since last Thursday The inhabitants of Khadipala village and its nearby villages under Pattamundai block have been worshipping a rare fresh water turtle , by keeping it in a bowl, as the carapace of the turtle is marked with the eyes of the Lord Jagannath . The rustic and gullible villagers considering the turtle as the incarnation of Lord Jagannath have been worshipping the turtle., Himanshu Swain, a villager
“We have asked the villagers to hand it over as it is illegal to confine a turtle, but they are refusing by saying that Lord Jagannath has visited to our village in the form of a turtle. We will not allow anybody to take the turtle away from us .”,added the Ranger of Mahakalapada Forest Range , Mihir Patnaik.
“We saw a turtle crawling on the lane, so, the villagers suggested that it should be kept in a well for safety reasons. But when we washed the turtle, we found some divine images of eyes, divine conch shell, lotus flower and wooden sandals which attributed to Lord Jagannath; and since then we are worshipping this turtle,” a Ram Chandra Das, the priest Batu Baba temple
“Though we have tried to convince the locals the this rare turtle is an Indian Soft shell Turtle (Aspideretes gangeticus) This turtle is one of the most critically endangered species of fresh water turtles . This turtle was earlier found in Brahmani, Baitarani, Kharasrota and Mahanadi river’s upper catches . This turtle is a sub –adult one .for which two marks found in the carapaces . In a juvenile turtle four marks can be found ,but it vanishes when it grows to an adult..But they were hell bent not to hand over the turtle to us. We also informed that they would be jailed for a year or more than a year if the turtle dies ,but they are not a position to listen us except saying that you leave the place without taking the turtle “,added Ranger of Mahakalapada Forest Ranger.
According to Patnaik ,Soft-shelled Turtle is distinctive in appearance, having flat, smooth, soft, and rubbery rounded shells that are usually similar to pancake. Its back is olive, dark green or gray and the plastron is white or pink in color. It has webbed feet, long necks and elongated proboscis-like snouts bearing the nostrils at the tip. Females are considerably larger than the males.Soft-shell Turtles are swift-moving carnivorous reptiles. Sometimes the turtle lies buried in mud or sand and occasionally emerge to bask in the sun. The tissues in the pharynx help the reptile to extract oxygen for respiration from the water. It is aggressive when captured and is capable of biting viciously.
To protect itself from predators, it spends 95 per cent of its life hidden in sand or mud with only its eyes and nose showing.It is Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (1) and listed on Appendix I of CITES (2),added official sources .
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