In a bid to give boost to Ganga ecology, green activists, scientists, spiritual leaders and persons from other walks of life will congregate on the banks of Sangam during the first week of February on the occasion of Magh Mela to finalise a proposal for creating dolphin centres along the banks of the national river. The initiatives would first commence between Allahabad and Varanasi to protect the species.
Global Greens, a non-governmental organisation that is organising the event, is working on the initiative. According to Manoj Srivastava, representing the NGO in the country, recent surveys had revealed that ongoing conservation measures to save the national aquatic animal had yielded positive results.
During the forthcoming meet, efforts would be on to set up the dolphin centres at sites in the river, which has a large number of the national aquatic animal. Facilities for watching the aquatic species from close quarters will be provided at these centres which will help promote eco tourism, he said.
As per a research conducted by the experts from IIT-Delhi, University of Tokyo (Japan) and the Society for Conservation of Nature, nearly 35 km of stretch from Bhitora in Fatehpur has emerged as the region’s most congenial habitat for endangered Gangetic dolphins. The census figure found more dolphins inhabiting in both up and down streams of Ganga.
Gangetic dolphin is one of the four species of freshwater dolphin , that had been registering a decline for many years. In 2005, its population was about 600 in Ganga. Now, the count has increased but measures for continuing the trend have to be initiated to not only save the endangered species, but also the river. It plays a major role in maintaining the flora and fauna of the river, said Srivastava.
The initial survey indicated the presence of 650 Gangetic dolphins in 2011 which increased to 671 in 2012.
As many as 1260 Gangetic dolphins were seen in a recent survey conducted jointly by the UP forest department and WWF-India between October 5 and 8, 2016 on a 1500-kilometre stretch of the Ganga covering Allahabad,Varanasi and Ballia.