Residents of Baneswar in Cooch Behar district observed a five-hour strike on Thursday to protest the deaths of Black soft-shell turtles, locally called Mohan, and demanded proper conservation of the species.
These turtles are marked critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and are venerated by the residents and the Rajbanshi community as a whole.
Over the past 10 days or so, around 14 turtles, which lived in a pond at Baneswar, a religious and historical site in Cooch Behar, died after being run over by speeding vehicles on the nearby road, prompting protests.
On Thursday morning, residents and members of Baneswar Mohan Raksha Committee hit the streets and used guard rails to block the Alipurduar-Cooch Behar road, halting traffic at 6am. Shops, marketplaces and commercial establishments were closed.
Parimal Barman, committee president, stressed on speed curbs on the road where the turtles died under wheels. "We observed the strike to protest the deaths and demand turtle conservation,” Barman, who has written to chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her intervention, said.
