River Dolphin Allegedly Sold Off At Local Fish Market in Dibrugarh, Assam Police Steps Up

GUWAHATI: Whenever the river dolphin (known as the 'Gangetic dolphin') is spotted in the Brahmaputra and the Gangadhar River from various locations, poachers start fishing them clandestinely.

A tweet that has come to the notice to Assam Police suggests that on August 17th, 2021, river dolphin meat was sold in a local fish market in Kolakhuwa, Dibrugarh near Dihing River.

Reacting to the tweet Assam top cop, GP Singh has urged the SP, Dibrugarh to intervene in the matter and take firm action to stop this activity.

Meanwhile, a series of re-tweets and comments have also garnered to the post while some suggesting that the picture is of 2013. However, it's only after investigation the truth of the post will be revealed.

Notably, the oil extracted from the dolphins is used as bait for the large-size gharua species of fish which gets attracted towards this oil. It has been learned that this extracted oil is widely used in Bihar also. Hence, saving dolphins has always been a huge challenge.

There are reports that nine dolphins — including a few juveniles — were recently fished out of river Gangadhar.

The 'Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research' (C-NES) has been spearheading the 'Save the Dolphin' campaign in Assam.

A source in the Forest department informed that in order to break the myth, the C-NES has been providing the fishermen an alternative to dolphin oil for fishing. From 2005 to 2007, the organization sent four fishermen from the district to Patna Science College to learn the procedure of fishing without using dolphin oil.

"The alternative oil is very effective. Members of C-NES have been campaigning among fishermen to adopt the alternative oil while fishing and thus save the dolphin," said a Forest officer in Dhubri.

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