25 March 2020




Leaving his stall at the Golbazar Maharajganj Fish Market in Agartala, the vendor headed out toward another shop, a hovel really, tucked between the market’s boundary wall and a stack of Styrofoam boxes. He opened one, hauling out a mutilated carcass of a peacock marked softshelled turtle (Nilssonia hurum) and chopped it into pieces for a waiting customer. Money exchanged hands. It is not kosher to quote rates of wildlife as it encourages trade and though the prices are somewhat higher than, say goat meat, by putting a price on the priceless — a rare protected Schedule I species with the level of protection accorded to a tiger — he had sold the turtle cheap. Also visible were hollowed-out shells of the soft-shelled turtle, the Indian flapshell (Lissemys punctata), another Schedule I freshwater species. Information gleaned from the traders indicated that about 4,000 turtles are sold annually in Golbazar, and they assure that any quantity required can be made available.

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