PM Announces Project for Conservation of Dolphins

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced a conservation project of Gangetic Dolphins ten years after it was declared national aquatic animals.

The 'Project Dolphin' aims to give a stronger impetus for the conservation of the aquatic mammals in the lines of 'Project Tiger' and 'Project Elephant'.

Addressing the nation on India's 74th Independence Day, Modi said, "We will launch 'Project Dolphin' for protecting the ocean and Gangetic dolphins."

The ministry said it is a 10-year-long project led by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

The Gangetic river dolphin is a species of freshwater dolphins primarily found in the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers and their tributaries in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

In India, these dolphins are sighted in long deep river reaches in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

There are around 3700 Gangetic River Dolphins in Indian river systems, according to official figures.

As river dolphins act as indicators of healthy river ecosystems, their conservation would also ensure controlling river pollution and improving the availability of fishes and enhancing economies of local communities through sustainable fishery, the ministry said. They were declared National Aquatic Species in 2010.