Most of us know about River Ganga or Ganges. It is one of the biggest river of India and considered to be the holiest of rivers. Most of us from India have visited and taken a dip in the holy waters of riverGanges. But do we know that Ganges is the home to fresh water Dolphin. Few of us know that Fresh Water Dolphins [ Platanista gangetica ] live in Ganges have been there for ages.
The Ganges River Dolphin or Susu as locally known are found in the Ganges, Bhramaputra , and some other rivers in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. They are also know as blind Dolphins as they do not have lens in their eyes. According to the Hindu mythology as we all know the River Ganges came down from the heaven and from that time the River Dolphins have been a part of the Ganges. The river Dolphin was revered and considered to be a very sacred fish even in the third century BC. during the time of Emperor Ashoka. It was one of the worlds first protected species, as it was protected under a special status given by Emperor Ashoka. Today the River Dolphin is an endangered species, there are many reasons to the reduction of its population. The construction of many barrages and dams is one of the reasons as it has divided and restricted the colony of dolphins. The main reason is pollution. We all know that river Ganges is polluted but do little about it. Fishing is another reason for the decrease in dolphin’s population. As the river dolphin is blind it cannot see the nets and get easily tangled into them. Their habitat is degrading and so are they.
The River dolphins have a chance in form of “Dr Sandeep Behera “The Dolphin Man”. Dr Sandeep Behera is the Freshwater Programme Coordinator for WWF – India. He is know among the local villagers as the Dolphin Man. Dr. Sandeep has worked tirelessly for the last 13 years to try an save the Ganges River Dolphins.
In particular his work has been focused on the 164 km. stretch of river between Bijnor and Narora. This area is about 200 km. from New Delhi. He has been able to persuade the local government to put an ban on commercial fishing and sand mining among the river banks. Due to his involvement and research we now know that as like canaries sent down mines to warn of toxic gases the dolphins in our rivers can also warn of polluted water. A major threat to the Ganges river dolphin has been the extensive damming of rivers for irrigation and electricity generation, which isolates populations and prevents seasonal migration. Other threats include chemical pollution, boat traffic, hunting and human disturbance. This species has also been hunted at times for oil, fish bait and food by local people.
Well, now we know that such a beautiful species is in danger we should help in whatever way we can to make things better and try to save them form getting extinct. It is sad to know that the river dolphin which we in India considered to be a heavenly being and had revered it is near extinction. It is already protected under the wild life act. But unless we the people of India will not co-operate and help there is a limit to which the Government or WWF can do. Stop commercial fishing, stop using soaps and other things while taking a dip at Ganges, stop using the river as a dustbin and if we want to do more the WWF and The Dolphin Man are there to guide us.
Links:
* Swimming blindly down the Ganges
*Ganges River dolphin
*Conserving the Ganges River Dolphin and improving livelihoods
* The Red List of Threatened Species
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The World Around Me 