Administrative takeover of Lakshwadeep’s coral atoll could disrupt rich ecology

“A thousand leopards in a forest patch the size of a football field!” This is how marine conservation researchers Rucha Karkarey and Vardhan Patankar described unusually large shoals of squaretail groupers (Plectropomus areolatus) gliding along the coral reefs, off the shores of Bitra, an island in northern Lakshadweep.

In 2010, Karkarey’s team recorded densities of over 3,600 fish in over four hectares – an area roughly the size of five football fields. “This was between two and six times higher than any density previously recorded across south-east Asia,” recalled Karkarey, who is now a senior research associate at Lancaster University, UK.

Geographically, the Union Territory of Lakshadweep comprises 12 atolls, three reefs, and five submerged banks. Out of a total of 36 islands in the Lakshadweep archipelago, with a total area of 32 sq km, only 10 are inhabited.

Among them Bitra is a tiny shark-fin-shaped strip of sand that is home to just about 271 people. The island is 570 metres in length and 280 m at its widest point, with an area of 0.105 sq km.

The smallest inhabited island of the archipelago with its ecologically-sensitive marine landscape, Bitra is now under spotlight. The Lakshadweep administration is planning to take over the island, because of its strategic...

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