Three rivers flowing through Uttar Pradesh may soon be devoid of life. Major habitats in the Ganga, Yamuna and Ghagra rivers are fast degrading, according to a survey conducted by the State forest department and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India.
The report also stresses on the need for urgent steps.
“It is an urgent need to revive these rivers. Industries are polluting them and wildlife has disappeared from these rivers, as oxygen in the waters has totally depleted,” said Rook De, Chief Conservator (Wildlife), in lucknow.
The survey, primarily to count dolphins in various river systems, was conducted during October 5-7 last year.
It was found that the Ghagra river between Sitapur and Mao districts; the Yamuna between Pachnada in Etawah and Allahabad; and Ganga between Kanpur and Allahabad are critically losing their life-support systems owing to excessive, uncontrolled mining and fishing.
The study attributes this to complete neglect and lack of intervention by the Government and agencies entrusted with the task.
According to field workers engaged in the dolphin count, the first of its kind in Uttar Pradesh, there is no breeding population of dolphins in the Ganga between Kanpur and Allahabad. Only some unhealthy adults are left.
Similarly, the Yamuna danger zone has just about 40 dolphins left, as against nearly 70 counted in the late 1980s.
Uncontrolled discharge of domestic and industrial wastes from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have led to complete death of the Yamuna between Gautambudh Nagar and Agra, the report submitted to the Government has stated.
WWF-India associate director (river basins and biodiversity) Dr Sandeep Behera said, “Eighteen different teams had surveyed about 2,800 km of various river systems in Uttar Pradesh to collect baseline information. We counted about 671 dolphins, though we were expecting many more.”
“While the habitats, dolphins and other species like fishes, turtles and gharials are stable at some places, they are critically declining at other places. This is a big cause for concern as natural systems are fast vanishing,” Behera added.
Of the 671 dolphins in the State, Ganga has the highest number - 261. Ghagra has 231, the Chambal has 85 and Geruwa has 39. The Saryu and Rapti rivers have 16 and eight dolphins, respectively. Yamuna is left with just 31 dolphins.
The survey called for increased intervention from the Government and participation of local communities, if the rivers are to be saved, though it is said to be “really too late”.
Intending to tackle the situation, the forest department and WWF are preparing a ‘Combined River Conservation Plan’, which would be submitted to UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav within two months, according to officials.