At Sangam,WWF plans to come up with dolphin sanctuary

“A team of six WWF members headed by Sandeep Behna,in-charge of Indian Dolphin,surveyed the entire Ganga stretch in this region up to Mirzapur. The survey found an abundance of Indian dolphins in the region with their number being around 300,” said District Forest Officer S N Mishra.    

The WWF team stayed in Allahabad for five days and surveyed stretches across river Ganga,Yamuna and other tributaries in Fatehpur,Kaushambi,Allahabad,Pratapgarh and Mirzapur areas,said a team member,adding they would soon submit a report to the WWF committee.

“If the Centre gives its nod to the WWF proposal for partnership in conservation of dolphins,the organisation will soon start work for the conservation,promotion and protection of dolphins besides developing Sangam as a world-class dolphin sanctuary,” said the team member.

The Forest department,in association with the district administration,would now make a fresh project for the dolphin sanctuary at Sangam in light of the WWF survey report.

After being sent to the state government,the proposal would be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment for approval,said District Magistrate Sanjay Prashad.

It was in September that the state government had sent a Rs-60 crore proposal to the Centre for the proposed dolphin sanctuary in Sangam. The proposal,however,is still pending with the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment,which had recently declared the dolphin as the National Aquatic Animal.

According to the report of the Forest department as well as the WWF survey,dolphins inhabit a particular area falling between Sangam and Sirsa. It’s a 20-km stretch from south east of Sangam up to Sirsa.

The Gangetic Dolphin is found mostly in Bihar — between Patna and Bhagalpur. Environmentalists have for long raised concerns on their dwindling numbers. There are only 2,000 dolphins in South Asia,it is learnt.