India’s dolphin nos on the decline

​Bhagalpur: The population of the endangered Gangetic river dolphin has declined at Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (VGDS) here, India's only sanctuary for its national aquatic animal. A survey conducted in December 2017 by Vikramshila Biodiversity Research and Education Centre (VBREC) – in partnership with researchers from Ashoka Trust for Research on Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru, and Wild Life Institute of India (WII), Dehradun – found that the number of dolphins in the sanctuary had declined to 154 from 207 in 2015.

Sunil Choudhary, coordinator of VBREC at Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University and an expert on dolphins, with over two-and-a-half decades of research and field experience, said the declining population showed up in the last two surveys in 2016 and 2017, compared to the 2015 survey. "Every year we do two surveys in the sanctuary. One thing is clear: 2015 onwards we see a declining trend of dolphin population. 

We are currently busy doing the 2018 survey. We are still analysing the exact reasons but the movement of big cargo vessels in the river and dredging activities have impacted the number of dolphins. There might be other reasons but these two seem to be very important for the decline in number of dolphins in the sanctuary area," Choudhary told thethirdpole.net.

This is not a surprise. Last year, dolphin experts had warned that due to their effective blindness, and dependence on echolocation, the Gangetic dolphins would suffer from the noise pollution created by large ship propellers, and by dredging.

Dredging activity in the area has increased manifold in recent years because the Central government has declared the stretch of the Ganga from Varanasi to Haldia in West Bengal National Waterway Number 1. A channel for heavy ships is being dredged, and a shipping container port in Varanasi is almost ready. 

The plan is part of India's aim for cooperation with Nepal in the transboundary Ganga basin, with a shipping container port meant for goods to be transported to and from Nepal being built in Bihar. Choudhary said that during the monsoon dolphins go to the tributaries and side channels, and return when the water recedes. But in the last two years – when the current dredging activity really started – the dolphins had not returned.

While Choudhary said increasing dredging in the river by Inland Waterways Authority of India had disturbed dolphins in the sanctuary, other experts involved in the survey blamed increasing pollution, human interference, siltation and decreasing water flow and water level in the river. 

A decrease in the number of dolphins indicates that there is something wrong with the ecosystem, R K Sinha, vice chancellor of Nalanda Open University in Patna and a reputed expert on Gangetic river dolphins, said." "The water level has been decreasing and flow slowed down in river Ganga. Siltation is also increasing in the river. All these are not favourable to dolphins," he pointed out. He said the Gangetic river dolphin is India's national aquatic animal but frequently falls prey to poachers. 

Dolphins are also sometimes killed without intention by being trapped in fish nets or hit by propellers. Wildlife officials say poachers kill dolphins for their flesh, fat and oil, which is used as a prey to catch fish, as an ointment and as a supposed aphrodisiac. Dolphins prefer water that is at least 1.5-2.4 metres in depth. They are usually found in water where there is enough fish for them to feed on. 

"You have to make people aware how to use and not abuse the river. Their traditional uses should be respected and you cannot alienate them from that. Involving fisherfolk communities and others stakeholders along the river flood plains is the only way. 

There is no easy method of conserving dolphins or conserving river biodiversity in a protected area. It is a long process and it is only possible by involving stakeholders," Choudhary said. Another expert, D N Choudhary, who teaches zoology at Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, said the number of dolphins has definitely decreased. He pointed out that other species like gharials, tortoises and fish are also showing a decline. 

By: Mohd Imran Khan 
(In arrangement with thethirdpole.net)