PM Modi announces project for conservation of dolphins

Guwahati: After Project Tiger and Project Elephant, PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday on the occasion of the 74th Independence Day has announced 'Project Dolphin' to boost a stronger impetus for the conservation of the aquatic mammals.

A decade after the Gangetic Dolphins were declared national aquatic animals, PM Modi envisages to address conservation concerns and empower the stakeholders like the river-dependent population in reducing the river pollution and allowing sustainable fishery and river-based other livelihood options through scientifically oriented conservation methods

Today, while addressing to the nation on I-day, he said "We will also launch 'Project Dolphin' for protecting the ocean and Gangetic dolphins"

As per reports, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has decided to launch the 10-year project 'Gangetic Dolphin' led by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Worth mentioning is that the Gangetic River Dolphin is found in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli River system of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Platanista gangetica is a species of freshwater dolphins rarely found in the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers and their tributaries in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

However, in India, these dolphins are only sighted along deep river reaches in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

In his speech, he also mentioned that this project will boost the biodiversity, provide livelihoods, and boost tourism as well.

According to official figures, there are about 3,700 Gangetic River Dolphins in the Indian river systems.

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