Shyamhari Chakra
Combining conservation initiatives of the Gangetic river dolphins and promotion of eco-tourism, “My Ganga, My Dolphin” campaign has been launched this week coinciding with the Ganga River Dolphin Day.
In 2010, on October 5, the Ganga river dolphins were declared as national aquatic animals. Since then, October 5 is being celebrated as Ganga River Dolphin Day every year.
“My Ganga, My Dolphin” eco-tourism programme was launched at six destinations across three states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal – by the National Mission for Clean Ganga.
Under the programme, dolphin safaris will start at Kahalgaon in Bihar; Bijnor, Brijghat, Prayagraj and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Bandel in West Bengal.
“My Ganga, My Dolphin” campaign was mooted to carry on the dolphin census in the Ganges from Bijnor to Narora that stretched over 250 kilometres.
“This is a joint venture by the Union and State Governments for sustainable tourism linking livelihood through dolphin conservation for ecotourism along the Ganga river”, the officials stated.
Volunteers from the local communities are being trained to guide the tourists coming for dolphin safari along the boat rides in the river route. They would be known as Ganga Praharis, it was learnt.
The number of Gangetic Dolphins has seen an impressive rise after implementation of the dolphin conservation drive.
Dolphin conservation commenced I India in 2012 as a collaborative programme of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Government of Uttar Pradesh.
There are about 3700 Gangetic river dolphins in India, as per the reports by researchers.
Dolphins are seen in the states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
