Download Pioneer (Delhi) 15/03/06 - India Environment Portal

Pioneer (Delhi) 15/03/06
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Unnecessary, brutal killings
The main reason why conch is almost extinct is the Hindu religion. Now tourism and fake
ayurveda has added to its miseries
When Swami Ramdev was challenged by Ms Brinda Karat last month on using animal
and human parts for his ayurvedic medicines, he went on television to say that he only
used pearls and conch shells. Ironically, both of them are animal parts. Conch shell is the
skin of the marine snail, or mollusc, which lives inside it. Conches eat seaweed and are so
active in the sea that they are called "the jumping shellfish". To get the shell, the animal
has to be killed.
Molluscs have been around for 500 millions years. There are hundreds of varieties of
these animals. Some live in the depths of the ocean, others on beaches. They are useful as
scavengers. But, like most other animal groups, the Molluscs are vulnerable to the
changes man is bringing to this earth. We threaten their habitats and food supplies, the
purity of the water they breathe and, through unregulated fisheries, their numbers. Some
species of molluscs have become extinct, thanks to our activities, and others teeter on the
brink of extinction.
The main reason why conch is almost extinct is the Hindu religion. Now tourism and fake
ayurveda has added to its miseries.
The word conch comes from Sanskrit word shankh. In Hinduism, the conch is the
original horn trumpet, used for proclamation. Vishnu has one called "Panchjanya". It is
present in every Hindu temples as one of the symbols of Hinduism. As a symbol of Lord
Buddha, it is used in Tibetan Buddhism to call religious assemblies. During rituals, it is
used both as a musical instrument and container for water or agarbattis.
Mollusc shells, including conches, are sold at tourist centres, official government
souvenir shops and outside temples. They are also sold to ayurvedic pharmacies that use
them as a calcium base and sell these so-called medicines.
Thousands of marine molluscs are killed every day by fishermen. They are collected in
shallow, inshore waters by divers. Most of the killing takes place in West Bengal and
Tamil Nadu. Three years ago, the Ministry for Environment tried to stop this killing by
declaring the conch snail a protected species under the Wildlife protection Act, 1972. The
Chief Minister of West Bengal, in whose constituency most of the killings take place,
came to Delhi and put a lot of pressure to have this protection withdrawn. Mr Balu, the
then Environment Minister, promptly removed the conch shell from the list. In the next
10 years, there will be no conches left.
Queen conch shells are protected in countries like Australia and New Zealand. This
means that you cannot even pick up a conch shells that you find on the beach. No trade is
allowed; and if the customs find tourists bringing them in, they are confiscated.
Unfortunately, this has not happened in India.
These marine animals live near the shallow coasts in semi-tropical and tropical waters.
As they grow old, they move towards deeper waters. They come nearer the shores in
winter and move towards the sea in summer. While some molluscs can swim, most are
attached or live creeping along the bottom. Some are stationary filter feeders that sift
small particles of food through their gills and their nervous and muscle systems are used
for opening and closing their shells and digging themselves deeper into the sand.
They have one foot and pedal it in the water to hop around. Adults are most active at
night, and can travel up to 100 yards a night. They reach sexual maturity in 3-4 years and
lay eggs from April to August. They can live up to 25 years.
The body is divided into a head, a mouth with a toothed tongue, muscular foot, and gut
hump containing the body organs. Mollusks have a blood, nervous and reproductive
system, besides an excretory system with kidneys and gills that are used to extract
oxygen from water and to strain out organisms from the water or bottom mud. They have
little finger-like threads called cilia, which take the food to the mouth The skin that
covers this is called the mantle, which is a sensory organ. It also produces the acids and
ink for defence, mucus for protection.
Molluscs hatch from the egg complete with a tiny shell, which is often still there as a tiny
curl at the top of the adult shell. The shell provides protection from damage and
predators. Besides, it prevents the loss of body fluids on land. Shells vary in shape, size,
thickness, texture and shine. Marine ones are often thick and heavy, while land specimens
are light.
Limpets, cowries, cone shells, winkles, abalones, oysters ,conches - all these are living
animals. The sacred Indian conch is a mollusc called "Turbinella Pyrum". This mollusc is
found only in the Gulf of Mannar or the Gulf of Khambat, near Narmada river mouth or
in the Makran coast near Karachi. They are now a threatened species.
The slow moving nature of the conchs, their pinkish-rose shells, and their frequency in
shallow waters make them an easy target for fisherman. The industry is mainly in
Kolkata, where the animals are killed and the shells are cut with saws by shellworkers
and made into bangles. Bengali brides wear the shankh bangles. The others are sold to
temple shops. West Bengal Handicrafts Development Corporation has an office in Tamil
Nadu to purchase shankh shells from the pearl-divers of the Gulf of Mannar. The annual
turn-over is about 40 lakh shells. A diver's average daily catch is about 10 shells.
If you object to animals being sacrificed in temples, remember that every time you buy a
conch you are doing the same. Every time an ayurvedic medicine lists its ingredients as
shankh-based , it is not vegetarian. To kill molluscs to use their shells for calcium is so
unnecessary when you have so many non-living calcium resources.
(Anyone wanting to join the animal welfare movement, contact Ms Gandhi at 14 Ashoka
Road, New Delhi-110001, or [email protected])