New Delhi: Despite an uptick in their sightings of late in Bihar, Ganges River Dolphins (Platanista gangetica) are still battling for survival. Over the past century, their numbers have dwindled due to a variety of reasons, including poaching. Awareness campaigns among fishermen communities have brought that down, but barrages, dams and construction still pose a risk to the fresh-water dwellers.
“In the 1960s and 1970s, I used to stand on the Ganga ghats (in Bihar’s Patna) and always spotted Ganga dolphins. But by the 1980s, they appeared to have disappeared. Today, when I walk along the Ganga, I can never spot them,” Ravindra Kumar Sinha, known as the ‘Dolphin man of India’ for his significant contributions towards the conservation of the Ganga dolphins, told ThePrint.
The Ganga dolphin is mainly found in the Ganga and Brahmaputra and their tributaries in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List categorises the mammal as an endangered species. Characterised by long, pointed snouts and large flippers, they are essentially blind and navigate and hunt using echolocation. They are also considered indicators of health of freshwater ecosystems.
Hunting Ganga dolphins is prohibited as they are listed under Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
In India, Bihar has one of the highest populations of dolphins, and dolphin sightings in Patna were once quite common. However, Sinha said that today, with the Ganga receding further away from the city, most dolphin sightings are in Bhagalpur, Gopalganj, or other parts of eastern and western Bihar.
“Now, Ganga dolphins are seen either at the confluence of the two rivers—Ganga and Gandak—or where a swirl in the waters makes it easy for the dolphins to position their heavy body against the current. The Ganga in Patna, unfortunately, is moving away. So, the dolphins have also moved away to other places,” R.K. Sinha said.
R.K. Sinha, a Padma Shri recipient and internationally recognised with awards such as the Golden Ark, the highest civilian award of the Netherlands, said the survival of Ganga dolphins is still under threat.
“The threat faced by Ganga dolphins from fishermen has drastically reduced. But, the threat comes from dams and barrages now. We have seen dolphins killed near barrages. The creation of dams and barrages isolates the dolphins to a certain stretch and hits their breeding hard. It can have a catastrophic effect on them,” Sinha said.
Sinha said there is also no way to stop such constructions, which will continue to happen in the name of development.
The Ganga dolphins, according to Sinha, are mentioned in ancient scriptures. He noted they are known as Shiva’s messengers who descended on Earth with Ganga with other aquatic life such as turtles and fish.
“Interestingly, I found links with another mythology from an Italian scientist. The scientist found a book in the Moscow Library and wrote about it. The Akbarnama, he wrote, mentions dolphins as ‘water pigs’,” Sinha told ThePrint.
Hunting down, but dangers remain
In June this year, an under-construction bridge on the Ganga River at Bihar’s Sultanganj collapsed in the proximity of the Vikramshila Ganga Dolphin Sanctuary.
Hearing a complaint about this, the National Green Tribunal, in October this year, booked the Bihar pollution control board, the Bhagalpur district magistrate, the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, and Bihar’s forest and environment department.
The NGT, which took cognisance of the fact that the “huge quantity of muck” dumped into the river “endangered the aquatic life of dolphins”, has set 6 January 2025 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
The IUCN cites flow regulation and habitat fragmentation by dams, barrages, canals, and embankment construction projects as one of the main reasons behind the declining population of the freshwater Ganga dolphins.
Other threats, according to the IUCN, are entanglement in fishing nets, hunting, river pollution, boat traffic, and the impacts of climate change on river basins and flow.
The fishermen living along the Ganga used to kill dolphins for their fat, which they converted into oil and used as fish bait.
“When I started my PhD in 1980, I travelled with fishermen for research. One day, they spotted a saus (Ganga dolphin) and told me it had children to feed. Later, I was horrified when one of them said he killed the saus for its fat and threw away the rest. I then pledged to not only research on the dolphins but also to protect and preserve them,” Sinha said.
From 1986 to 1991, Sinha and his team moved along the Ganga, meeting fishermen and offering them an alternative oil to make the fish baits, pleading with them not to kill the dolphins.
“I even held a workshop in Patna for 500 fishermen. The efforts appear to have paid off. A vast number of them stopped killing the dolphins. In the last survey by my team in 2016, the number of dolphins spotted was roughly 3,600. A subsequent survey done by another team showed their number at over 4,000,” Sinha said.
In the past, awareness was low. “When I started in the 1980s, very few people knew dolphins existed in the Ganga. A senior IAS officer once asked me to show a photograph of Ganga dolphins,” Sinha said.
Much has improved since then after the Ganga dolphins were introduced in Schedule-I in 1986. However, there is still a long way to go.
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Dolphin centre not yet operational
Sinha proposed India’s first dolphin conservation institute in Bihar before Montek Singh Ahluwalia in 2012 when the then-vice chairman of the planning commission visited Patna University.
“He (Ahluwalia) was touched when he saw dolphin calves and asked me if I needed help. I suggested an institute that will preserve the Ganga dolphins, which are limited. He instantly agreed. Soon afterwards, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wrote to the Centre, suggesting the institute in Patna,” Sinha said.
The project, however, suffered delays, which Sinha attributed to Patna University refusing to hand over land for the institute.
Nitish Kumar finally inaugurated the National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) on 4 March this year near the Ganga River in Patna. Eight months later, it is still not operational.
“Now, the building has come up, but power is yet to be connected, and the director is yet to be appointed. It is yet to be functional despite the inauguration by the chief minister,” said Sinha.
According to Sinha, the centre will need financial help from outside for any meaningful work towards dolphin conservation.
Asked about the delay in setting up operations, Bihar Forest and Environment Minister Prem Kumar said, “We are in the process of making the dolphin centre functional. It will happen soon. I have asked my officers to take up the matter urgently.”
Showing an interest in guiding the institute, Sinha said, “The institute is not only for Ganga dolphins but the entire county. It will not be limited to preserving dolphins but also changing the river system. Like tigers need forests, fishes need rivers. And, fishes are the food for dolphins.”
In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 100 crore project—Project Dolphin—under which India is conducting its first population estimation of riverine dolphins in the Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Indus river systems. Much-awaited, its findings are supposed to be out soon.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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