Draft action plan readied to conserve Ganges dolphins

PATNA - In the wake of several Ganges River Dolphins being killed, a committee set up by the environment ministry has submitted to the central government a draft action plan on conserving the endangered species, an official said Saturday.

“We recommended the setting up of basic facilities for Ganges River Dolphins, including a research centre, in the draft plan submitted to the central government recently,” R.K. Sinha, chairman of the working group for Action Plan for Dolphin Conservation, told IANS here.

The Ganges River Dolphin was declared the national aquatic animal early this year.

Sinha, known as India’s Dolphin Man, said that the draft for the action plan was prepared with the support of experts from Wildlife Institute Of India, Dehradun, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Chinese dolphin experts, who have been doing research on the complete extinction of dolphins in China.

The draft recommended identification of areas with high dolphin population for their documentation and stressed for the need to change fishing pattern in these areas.

The move comes as the dolphins are being killed at an alarming rate in Bihar.

Ganges River Dolphins fall in Schedule I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and have been declared an endangered species under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Experts estimate the current number of the Ganges River Dolphins at around 2,000. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says that in the 1980s, there were around 3,500 dolphins in the Ganga delta region alone.

The draft also recommended October 5 to be declared the National Dolphin Day. The central government had declared this date as National Aquatic Animal Day last year.