The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) launched ‘Dolphin Jalaj Safaris on the occasion of ‘Ganga River Dolphin Day’ on October 5, 2020, at six locations including Brijghat, Bijnor, Prayagraj, and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh (UP); Kahalgaon in Bihar; and Bandel in West Bengal (WB). It was on the same day (on October 5) in 2010 that dolphins were declared India’s national aquatic animal. The initiative is aimed at spreading awareness among the people about the biodiversity of Ganga river and the significance of conserving river dolphin.
It seeks to bring together gangetic dolphins and conservation of the Ganga river along with local livelihoods in accordance with the concept of the ‘Arth Ganga’ project. (The Arth Ganga project was initiated by Prime Minister Modi during the first meeting of the National Ganga Council in Kanpur on December 14, 2019 in order to improve the economic activity along the Ganga river bank).
Ganga Praharis, who are trained volunteers belonging to the local community, will take tourists on boat rides to view the gangetic dolphins. In addition to this, the tourists will also get to spot gharials.
In addition to this, a new campaign, by the name of ‘My Ganga My Dolphin’, has also been launched to conduct a dolphin census in a 250 km radius from Bijnor to Narora districts of Uttar Pradesh. Presently, there are about 36 dolphins in the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary. This sanctuary comprises of five districts of west Uttar Pradesh, including Bijnor, Amroha, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, and Hapur.
Conservation of dolphins in India began initially during the year 2012 with a combined effort of the Uttar Pradesh government and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). WWF is as international non-government organisation which works for the preservation of wilderness and to reduce human impact on the environment. WWF aims to conserve the dolphin population by looking into the various aspects required for their survival, which include water connectivity and depth. They also seek to spread awareness among local farmers in order to reduce the wastage of water during cultivation activities.
On August 15, 2020, the Prime Minister of India made an announcement regarding a detailed documentation on conservation of dolphins. It is similar to projects meant for the conservation of other species, including ‘Project Tiger’, ‘Project Elephant’.
Factoids
- The Ganges river dolphin was officially discovered in 1801.
- The river dolphins once lived in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. But the species became extinct from most of its early distribution ranges.
- The river dolphins can only live in freshwater and are blind. They hunt by emitting ultrasonic sounds, which bounce off fish and other prey, enabling them to “see” an image in their mind.
- They are frequently found alone or in small groups, and, generally, a mother and calf travel together. Calves are chocolate brown at birth and then have grey-brown smooth, hairless skin as adults.
Females are larger than males and give birth once in two to three years to only one calf.