Nearly 10 years after the Gangetic Dolphin was declared a national aquatic animal, the Modi Government has, on the lines of the Tiger Project and Elephant Project, cleared a dedicated conservation programme to save the rare freshwater species from disappearing from the country’s aqua map.
A senior official from the Union Environment Ministry, which will oversee the project, said that the approval in this regard was given in the first meeting of the National Ganga Council held during December 2019 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“It was agreed for initiation of a Project River Dolphin on the lines of Project Tiger and Project Elephant in consultation with the Wildlife Institute of India and experts in the sector. After discussion, the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) recommended the dedicated project for conservation of Gangetic dolphins,” said the official.
With the Government’s approval for the project, plans will soon be drawn for the initiation of a dedicated project for conservation of the aquatic animal.
The Ganges River Dolphin is an endemic species of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna river systems, extending from the foot of the Himalayas to the tidal zone in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
“Like we have tiger as a national animal and peacock as a national bird, dolphins as a national aquatic animal represents the health of the rivers, particularly Ganga in the country,” said the official.
He felt that by declaring dolphins as a national aquatic animal, the government is not only ensuring the survival of the species which are endemic to river Ganga but also seeking cleansing of the river.
In 2009, the Gangetic dolphins were declared India’s National Aquatic animal during the first meeting of the erstwhile National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) and it is placed under the “endangered” category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) .It faces grave threats due to excessive pollution in Ganga and poaching. There are less than 2,000 dolphins left in the country
Since the river dolphin is at the apex of the aquatic food chain, its presence in adequate numbers symbolises greater biodiversity in the river system.
It has been included in the Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.