The National Dolphin Research Centre would boost conservation efforts for river dolphins and would provide an opportunity for in-depth research on them
The much-awaited National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC), a big step for the conservation of the endangered Gangetic river dolphin, will soon be a reality as the process to set it up has finally begun. The construction work on its building is likely to commence in Patna after the monsoon this year, officials said.
The NDRC is coming up on the 4,400 square metre plot of land on the premises of Patna University, near the banks of the Ganga.
The Bihar urban development department has recently cleared the construction of NDRC’s building about 200 metres from the Ganga. The Bihar forest, environment and climate change department had sought approval for this as any construction within 200 metres of the Ganga is restricted.
Surendra Singh, conservator of forest wildlife, told this reporter that work has already started for NDRC. “Now, there will be no further delay. It will be complete by the next year,” he said.
A senior official of the rank of additional principal chief conservator of forest, admitted that NDRC had been stuck for several years due to a number of reasons. “But now, the government is serious about setting it up by 2022.”
The tender process for the building was finalised recently, according to the Bihar construction department, which will construct it. “We will start construction either from September or October this year,” an official from the department said.
Last month, an expert on Gangetic river dolphins, RK Sinha, had expressed his unhappiness over the delay in starting NDRC in Patna.
Sinha said if NDRC had already been set up, the state could have taken advantage of Project Dolphin on the lines of Project Tiger, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sinha, who is a member of the steering committee for the implementation of Project Dolphin, said Bihar had a natural advantage as it accounted for 50 per cent of the world’s river dolphin population. But Sinha admitted that dolphin habitat had been threatened and disturbed in the Ganga.
It was Sinha who had mooted the idea of setting up the NDRC close to the Ganga in Patna. Montek Singh Ahulwalia, then-deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, had approved the proposal during his visits in mid-2011 and early 2012, after he was impressed by the sight of dolphins along the 22 km stretch of the Ganga.
Gopal Sharma, senior scientist at the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), had regularly led researcher teams to study the population of Gangetic river dolphins.
He said NDRC would boost conservation efforts of dolphins and would provide an opportunity for in-depth research on dolphins including its changing behaviour, survival skills, food habits, cause of death and other aspects.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had laid the foundation stone of the centre last year. The fund for the building was also sanctioned.
The Gangetic river dolphin is India’s national aquatic animal. It is a Schedule I animal under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. It has been declared an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Gangetic river dolphin is one of four freshwater dolphin species in the world. The other three are found in the Yangtze river in China (now extinct), the Indus river in Pakistan and the Amazon river in South America.
The dolphin is found in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is blind and finds its way and prey in river waters through echolocation. Bihar is home to around half of the estimated 3,000 Gangetic dolphins in India.
Dolphins prefer water that is at least five to eight feet deep. They are usually found in turbulent waters, where there are enough fish for them to feed on.
Gangetic dolphins live in a zone where there is little or no current, helping them save energy. If they sense danger, they can dive into deep waters. The dolphins swim from the no-current zone to the edges to hunt for fish and return, Sharma said.
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