Bleeding the Chambal Dry

Reckless water hoarding, diversion, sand mining and fishing are killing a pristine river that once used to recast its vast ravines every flood. Jay Mazoomdaar on the curse of the Chambal

 

FOR CENTURIES, dark, foreboding myths saved the Chambal the fate of India’s other great rivers. The Charmanyavati, describes the Mahabharata, originated from a mountain of dripping leather (charma) after King Rantideva sacrificed thousands of cows. If that was not intimidating enough, Draupadi, distraught by her humiliation after that infamous game of dice, cursed that all who would drink from the Charmanyavati that flowed through Shakuni’s kingdom be damned.
In a culture where rivers are worshipped, such disrepute meant that the Chambal, by all means mightier than the Yamuna, would be slighted as a tributary of the latter. Unsurprisingly, no great cities or shrines came up on its banks. This traditional isolation fostered the badland reputation of the ravines where all manner of black sheep — rebel tribesmen and later bandits — found refuge. But it also helped the Chambal remain one of India’s most pristine rivers.
Even today, it has the highest conservation value among the rivers in the greater Gangetic basin. The Chambal hosts the largest contiguous and most viable breeding populations of the critically endangered gharial and the red-crowned roofed turtle. The river is also one of the most important habitats of the Gangetic dolphin, Indian skimmer, black-bellied tern, sarus crane and a host of endangered turtle species.
One of the choicest wintering sites of migratory birds, the Chambal is also a big contributor of fish stock to the Ganga. For more than a dozen national parks and sanctuaries, such as Ranthambore, Keladevi, Kuno-Palpur, Madhav and Darrah- Mukundra, the river ark is the vital corridor for dispersal of wildlife in an otherwise fragmented forest landscape.
But the Chambal’s splendid isolation, albeit cursed, started to wane after Independence when people living in the arid districts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh became too desperate. By 1960, the first dam on the river — Gandhi Sagar — was built on the Rajasthan-MP border.
In the next five decades, six major irrigation projects — Rana Pratap Sagar, Jawahar Sagar and Kota Barrage, Parbati Pick-up Weir, Harish Chander Sagar and Gudha Dam — 12 medium, 134 minor and several panchayat-level projects came up in the Chambal basin. There are hundreds more in the pipeline while work continues on several dozens.
The bane of mainstreaming — storage, extraction and diversion of water, sand mining, fishing and riparian cultivation by flattening ravines — is disrupting the Chambal’s water flow (see graphic), polluting and fragmenting its aquatic ecosystem and the forest landscape that support more than 550 species.
Downstream of Kota Barrage, the river now depends entirely on its tributaries, which are mostly seasonal and heavily harvested themselves. The result is an alarming drop in pre-monsoon water flow and the water level (see graphic). So much so that only 10-15 percent of the Chambal’s 435-km-long, high-potential gharial and dolphin habitat between Pali in Rajasthan and Pachnada in Uttar Pradesh retains the minimum depth required for the species during the driest periods between May and July.
The Trickle
Nobody outside the government knows the Chambal’s discharge and flow rates. It is part of the Gangetic basin, which makes the data classified. So, nobody can tell if the Central Water Commission’s 1992 guideline, that the minimum flow in a river should not be less than the average of 10 days’ minimum flow in its natural state, is being followed while harvesting huge volumes of Chambal water in the name of helping farmers.
Between 1990 and 2007, the average quantity of water used for irrigation by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh through Gandhi Sagar Dam and Kota Barrage decreased by 22.6 percent and 41.4 percent, respectively, while the use of water for industrial purpose increased by around 300 percent. By 2003, almost 41 percent of all water use was non- irrigational. The impact is evident.
At Kherli village, around 40 km downstream from Kota Barrage, farmers are happy that they get enough canal water from the barrage during the October-February crop season. Less than a kilometre away at Bhakto ka Ghat, one can walk across the knee-deep waters of the Chambal that is barely 15 m wide. “The river’s level will go down by another foot or so by the end of summer, but it never dries up,” assures a farmer in between dips in the canal water.
Of course, it doesn’t. Base flow or groundwater surge keeps big rivers trickling even in the worst of times. Besides, the run-off from the agricultural fields also reaches the Chambal. The irony is not lost on an elderly villager watching the lush fields: “Now, the Chambal waits for a few drops of its own water to flow back via canals and fields. Can you believe we needed boats to cross the river here when I was young?”
The sad trickle continues downstream of Kota Barrage till the Kali Sindh contributes some water. The still narrow and shallow stream gains some respectability at Pali where the Parbati joins in. “At the confluence last April, the depth of Parbati was 3.7 m while the Chambal was just 0.6 m deep. The Parbati’s flow was 0.4 foot per second, the Chambal’s was zero,” says wildlife biologist Niladri Dasgupta, who has been studying the river.
 A river’s health depends on the quality and quantity of its water. Barring a few stretches — for example, Rajasthan’s Kota-Keshoriapatan belt where a minor tributary brings industrial effluents — the Chambal’s water is of an enviable ‘A’ category as per the Central Pollution Control Board standards. It is the water quantity — water depth and flow — that threatens the river ecology.
According to studies conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Chambal’s water flow receded to as low as 16.38 cubic metres (or 16,380 litres) per second during June-July in 2009. The average lean flow of the Chambal is 58.53 m3/sec in April. For a perspective, compare this with the peak monsoon flow of 2,074.28 m3/sec in August. The lean flow works out to be less than 3 percent of the peak flow.
“This never happens in a natural system. The dams and irrigation canals were meant for utilising surplus monsoon water. But these projects refuse to release any water in the river channel during the summer months,” explains Dr Rajiv Chauhan, an Etawah-based wildlife biologist who red-flagged the mysterious epidemic that killed around 100 gharials in 2007-08.
Even the overall flow in the Chambal has been showing an annual slide of 3.4 percent since the 1990s. The WII’s Chambal studies statistically established that river depth decreases with a fall in river flow. The minimum flow and depth required for gharials is 151 m3/sec and 5 m while Gangetic dolphins, India’s national aquatic animal, need at least 266.42 m3/sec flow and 7 m deep waters. By 2011, gharials were losing half of their Chambal habitat during February-June, while dolphins found themselves out of depth as early as November.
When riverine habitat shrinks, it also gets fragmented, trapping aquatic animals in relatively deeper segments of the riverbed called pools. Being territorial, gharials don’t leave their own areas for longer stretches of deeper waters. In such a scenario, starvation is a distinct possibility as animals are trapped in pools too small to sustain them with enough fish stock. There are instances when dolphins inadvertently reached shallow waters chasing fish and got fatally stuck.
Shallow waters allow increased human interference, including access to otherwise inaccessible nesting islands. Confined in pools, the animals become vulnerable to secondary threats, such as local contamination, blast fishing or poaching.
Poor river flow also alters the natural morphology of deep pools. Dams restrict siltation and sand deposition downstream, limiting breeding sites of ground-nesting species such as gharials, skimmers and turtles. To make matters worse, dams conveniently release unseasonal water, often during nesting periods, drowning sandbanks and river islands formed by the sediments carried by the Chambal’s tributaries.
http://www.tehelka.com/bleeding-the-chambal-dry/

Chambal in for make-over, to become a tourist centre

Thursday, 20 June 2013 | SR | Bhopal | in Bhopal

Chambal Valley, which had been haven for dacoits for decades, is now going to become a new tourist attraction in the State. Tourists will now be able to see centuries-old temples of archaeological importance in the area.

The Union Government has sanctioned Rs 7 crore for development of Chambal tourist circuit. Under it, tourist facilities are being developed in Sheopur, Morena and Bhind districts. Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation has made arrangements for providing information regarding tourist facilities and is setting up facilities, including water sports, boating, rafting, camping, bird watching and interpretation centre in the National Chambal Alligator Sanctuary.    
A number of archaeologically significant places exist in Morena and Bhind.
In Morena district, there is an 8th century Shiva temple, Mahabharat-era remnants at Sihoniya, pre-historic script written in caves of Pahargarh and a number of Mughal and Scindia-era buildings.
For tourists' convenience, tourist information and facility centres are being constructed at all these places. Similarly, arrangements for parking, signages and lodging of tourists are being made near Kankan Mutt and Shanishchara Mandir.
Work is also underway to make Ater fort in Bhind district more convenient. Similarly, tourism information and facility centre and singnages are being developed at Sesaipura in Sheopur district, parking arrangements and boating facility at Rameshwaram, viewpoint on the banks of Chambal River, etc.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhopal/chambal-in-for-make-over-to-become-a-tourist-centre.html

Crocodile tears for the National Chambal Sanctuary?

Multiple water harvesting projects, both functioning and proposed, on the Chambal River are affecting the river’s water flow. Experts conclude that this could have disastrous consequences on the long-term survival of the critically endangered Gharial and Gangetic river dolphin

One of the last remaining rivers of the Great Ganges River System, the Chambal runs a course of 965km till it meets the Yamuna. Relatively unpolluted, this river harbors not just the largest population of critically endangered gharials in the world but also boasts a high density of the elusive and endangered gangetic dolphin. Even so, over 150 irrigation projects dot the Chambal basin and are compounded by four major hydroelectric projects that were initiated in the 1970s. Recognizing the ecological fragility of the river system, the Standing Committee of the country’s apex board for wildlife, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), recommended a final three project proposal near protected areas on the Chambal in 2011 on the condition that no new projects on the river would be considered in the future. Yet, barely two years down the line, a proposal for the “construction of intake well near left bank of Chambal river at Kota barrage reservoir which falling in National Chambal Ghariyal Sanctuary Rajasthan” (sic) was presented to the Standing Committee in its 28^th meeting held on 20 March 2013.  The proposal was rejected by the Committee in view of not just the earlier decision, but also on the basis of a report submitted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) regarding water intake from the Chambal.  However, the proposal was up for reconsideration in the June 2013 meeting of the Standing Committee and sources say that it is on the agenda for the next meeting as well.
The enigmatic, fish-eating gharial has a long and sordid conservation history. In the 1940’s, an estimated 5,000 – 10,000 gharials occupied the Gangetic river system but by the early 70’s their numbers had plummeted to barely 200 individuals. A few years later, in 1975, the government swung into action creating Project Crocodile. Through this, six gharial sanctuaries and 16 ‘rearing – centres’ were set up. Over the next 17 years, 5,000 captive bred gharials were released into the wild and in 1996, Project Crocodile was labeled a success and all funding was withdrawn. Yet, with inadequate protection and monitoring, the gharial population crashed again. In 2006, it was estimated that fewer than 250 breeding adults remained across fragmented habitats and the following year, the gharial was listed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). To put it simply, the gharial population has declined by approximately 98 percent in the last 60 years.
The Chambal river that holds 48 percent of the total gharial population is under much stress from habitat destruction, even though a 600km stretch of the river between Jawahar Sagar dam in Rajasthan and Panchhanada in Uttar Pradesh has been declared the National Chambal Sanctuary. The Gharial Conservation Alliance (GCA), an international organisation dedicated to saving gharials from extinction, names habitat destruction and death through illegal fishing as the most significant threats to the survival of this reptile. On their website they highlight the damage caused, writing, “Dams, barrages and irrigation projects are changing the course and water level of the rivers. In some areas, diversion of rivers and extraction of water for irrigation have drastically lowered river levels, making some former habitats now inhospitable for gharials, especially during the dry season. In some areas, the release of monsoon overflow water from dams, or the release of water for dam maintenance, has a devastating tidal-wave like effect on gharials. Many gharials are washed out of Protected Areas by these floodwaters, where they are more likely to be killed, and are sometimes washed all the way out to sea. This is thought to be a significant source of mortality in hatchling gharials.”
A report submitted by the Wildlife Institute of India to the NBWL in 2011 validates the GCA’s claims. In the course of the study, the authors found that the minimum water flow requirement for long-term survival of gharials is 164.34 m3/sec and for dolphin it is 289.67 m3/sec. At present, this flow is available only during the months of July to October for gharial and July to September for dolphins in the river stretch between Dholpur and Panchhnada. The report further states, “The period of reduced availability of flow also corresponds to the breeding season of gharial. As the suitable habitat at present is already compromised by 50 percent or less in lean months, further drawl of water will negatively impact the habitat suitability for gharial and dolphin significantly.”
The applicant agency requesting the construction of the intake well, promotes the proposal as a project of public interest as there is an acute water shortage in the ‘remote area’ of Kota city. Yet, the Kota Barrage already extracts massive volumes of water from the Chambal, so much so, that the discharge downstream after the barrage is zero in the lean season. Further, the use of water for drinking and industrial purposes has increased three fold even though water extraction for irrigation has decreased by 22 percent in Rajasthan. It is important to note that whilst the project proponent has mentioned water shortage as the reason to construct the intake well, it has not specified whether the water is for industrial or drinking purposes. For the record, Kota is one of northern India’s largest industrial hubs.
The minutes of the 28^th meeting of the standing committee clearly note the dissent of several non-official members. Though the Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan backs the project, committee members MD Madhusudan, Prerna Bindra, Dr M K Ranjitsinh and Kishore Rithe – were all recorded to have expressed deep concern as to the exploitation of the river. In lieu of their views, the proposal was rejected. They reiterated the recommendation of the WII, itself an autonomous body under the MoEF that concluded, “… any further abstraction of water would adversely impact the conservation of the two major vertebrate species the “Critically Endangered” gharial and the Gangetic dolphin which has also been designated as ‘national aquatic animal’.” Conservationists are now hoping that Board members stick to this precedent and continue to reject proposals on the Chambal River.
Whilst the fate of the gharial, the gangetic dolphin and the dozens of denizens of the Indian wild are decided in Ministry boardrooms, there is some good news from the field. In the first week of June, the efforts of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department paid off and 55 gharial nests that were protected around the clock, yielded dozens of hatchlings. Pictures shared by the Forest Department show glassy eyed, vulnerable, baby gharials barely 6-inches long, protected zealously by both mother and father. Some experts though, argue that egg protection is a minor part of gharial conservation. In an article for Conservation India, conservation biologist Tarun Nair notes, “Egg collection and rear-and-release programmes are touted as a panacea to gharial conservation challenges, attract favourable media attention and hence are popular management interventions. While these strategies hope to address hatchling and juvenile mortality, they do not address current threats to gharial populations that are primarily from hydrologic diversions, sand mining, fishing and riverside cultivation.”
Sure enough, Forest officials have done all they can to bring the hatchlings to this point. As to their continued survival? It depends on the protection of their river.

http://www.tehelka.com/crocodile-tears-for-the-national-chambal-sanctuary/#

Crocodile rescued from agricultural field

TNN Jul 14, 2013, 01.49AM IST

KANPUR: A 6.5 ft long crocodile was rescued by the forest department from an agricultural field in Jagatpur village of Auraiyya district by the forest department and volunteers of environmental awareness organisation on Saturday.
According to forest officials, the villagers saw a crocodile, which had strayed from a canal into the agricultural fields in the area.
he volunteers of Society for Conservation of Nature rushed to the spot after being informed by Forest department of Auraiyya.
A mob of around 1,000 villagers had surrounded the field. The reptile was soon caught by the activists and forest department, under the supervision of forest ranger of Bidhoona Awadh Bihari Tewari and Rajiv Chauhan of Society for Conservation of Nature.
It took more than two hours to rescue the animal. Panic prevailed and the villagers ran out from their fields after news of crocodile straying into the area spread. It is a female and in a healthy condition and has attained nearly 6 to 7 years of age. Later, the animal was released into Chambal river in Etawah.
District forest officer Manik Chandra Yadav said they believed that animal might have strayed out from a canal and reached the agricultural field.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-14/kanpur/40569238_1_forest-department-forest-ranger-forest-officials

Study finds rare turtles, gharials in parts of Yamuna

Jul 27, 2013, 07.41PM IST TNN[ Jayashree Nandi ]

Among other significant findings, the team of researchers found gharials nesting near the confluence of Yamuna and Chambal. (Photo credit: Khem Bahadur Singh)

NEW DELHI: The filthy stretch of Yamuna in Delhi is often not acknowledged to be a river at all. But wildlife researchers studying the Yamuna say that the river has immense importance biodiversity wise. A recent study by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) in collaboration with the Thames River Trust, UK has documented the faunal diversity on a 194km river stretch from Bateshwar Ghat in Agra to Dibholi Ghat in Etawah. Among other significant findings, the team of researchers found gharials nesting near the confluence of Yamuna and Chambal. They also found other threatened species like the ganges dolphin and black-necked stork.

The study was conducted between July 2011 and February 2013 by a team of four researchers including a boatman to record biodiversity, threats to habitat and perception of communities to river biodiversity in the region. "Most reports on Yamuna are related to water quality but there is complete lack of information on biodiversity. The study is going to help develop a 'biodiversity conservation action plan for Yamuna' says Asghar Nawab, project coordinator (River Basin) Freshwater and Wetlands Programme, WWF. The report that is currently being compiled is likely to be published in a couple of months.

According to Asghar, two of the most important things that the team came across were the nesting of gharials near Gohani village, approximately 10km upstream from the Chambal-Yamuna confluence and sightings of small groups of Ganges river dolphins from Hamirpur to Panchnada. "This is the first succesful nesting record of Gharial since 1980's when the species was said to be locally extinct. The sighting is very important because historically there are many references to the Yamuna being a thriving habitat for gharials," adds Asghar. Other species documented by the team included turtles like the chitra indica and soft-shelled turtle; birds like egyptian vultures, pelicans and spoonbills among many others.

The threats to the habitat of these species are different in the stretch studied from that of Delhi. For instance the threats cited the research team was river bed cultivation, overfishing, sand mining and presence of exotic species like the Chinese carp. "Upstream in Delhi and other parts there is huge threat from pollution. Our project can be replicated in other reaches of Yamuna including Delhi to understand possibilities. However, in Delhi it's going to be really difficult to recreate similar biodiversity," explains Asghar.

The research team is also working closely with riparian communities in the region to see if they can have alternative livelihood options. For instance the fishermen are also being trained in spinning of rope and jute material so that the stress on fish extraction is reduced. One of the key recommendations that the team has made is to recognize some parts of the river as conservation units. "Peripheral areas of the National Chambal Sanctuary fall in the Yamuna which are used as seasonal migratory routes by endangered species like gharial need protection measures on an urgent basis," says Asghar. 

 

http://m.timesofindia.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Study-finds-rare-turtles-gharials-in-parts-of-Yamuna/articleshow/21402965.cms

Fisherman held with Gangetic dolphin carcass

Jun 1, 2013, 11.04PM IST TNN[ Faiz Rahman Siddiqui ] Times of India, Kanpur

KANPUR: A fisherman was arrested with a dead Gangetic dolphin by the forest authorities and members of Panchdev Yamuna Nadi Mitra Society in Yamuna's Ekdala grid in Fatehpur district. Gangetic dolphin is included in the Schedule I for the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and is on the verge of extinction

Panchdev Yamuna Nadi Mitra Society, Ekdala, is a part of the river restoration techniques development project a joint project of PEACE Institute charitable Trust, Delhi and Thames Rivers Trust (TRT), UK.

The mammal was sent for autopsy to ascertain the cause of death. The fisherman was handed over to Kishanpur police for further investigation. "Arrested fisherman was identified as Gokul alias Pitambar, a native of Asahat village," said Kishanpur police.

According to District Forest Officer, Fatehpur, Sanjiv Kumar, "The accused has been booked under relevant sections of the Wild Life Protection Act. River dolphin is an endangered species and therefore, has been included in the Schedule I for the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972."

The carcass was seized on Saturday morning. Ex-Ekdala gram pradhan Devendra Singh and Jaykant Singh, a member of Panchdev Yamuna Nadi Mitra Society had gone for a stroll at 'Dolphin Darshan Kendra' when they came across Gokul with dolphin carcass. He was on way to home after fishing at Ekdala grid of Yamuna river.

A forest official said that the fish was at least an year old and was trapped in a net by the fisherman.He said that an adult dolphin weighs between 100 and 150 kg and measures between two and three metres. At birth and in the juvenile stage, the dolphin is of dark chocolate brown. Gradually, it changes to grey or light grey in the adult stage.

River Dolphin is the National Aquatic Animal of India.The Ministry of Environment and Forests notified the Ganges River Dolphin as the National Aquatic Animal on 18th May 2010. This mammal is also said to represent the purity of the holy Ganga as it can only survive in pure and fresh water. Platanista gangetica has a long pointed snout and also have visible teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. Their eyes lack a lens and therefore function solely as a means of detecting the direction of light. Dolphins tend to swim with one fin trailing along the substrate while rooting around with their beak to catch shrimp and fish, informed Dr Sitaram Taigor, PEACE Institute charitable Trust. "Often known as the 'Tiger of the Ganges', the river dolphin is an indicator animal and has the same position in a river ecosystem as a tiger in a forest, its presence indicating a sign of a healthy river ecosystem," said Dr. Taigor further.

This mammal has a forehead that rises steeply and has very small eyes. River Dolphins are solitary creatures and females tend to be larger than males. They are locally known as 'susu', because of the noise it makes while breathing. This species inhabits parts of the Ganges, Meghna and Brahmaputra rivers in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and the Karnaphuli River in Bangladesh, he added.
http://m.timesofindia.com/city/kanpur/Fisherman-held-with-Gangetic-dolphin-carcass/articleshow/20386707.cms

Gangetic dolphin in troubled waters

Faiz Rahman Siddiqui, TNN May 13, 2010, 08.41pm IST

KANPUR: The National Chambal Sanctuary in Etawah district which is a habitat of aquatic animals is in troubled water these days. Soaring temperature has led to acute water scarcity posing serious threat to aquatic animals, particularly to Gangetic dolphins. Found in 1979 and spread over 435-km, it is among the country's premier wildlife sanctuaries.
The Chambal river with ample depth was once considered a safe haven for aqua creatures to breed. Wildlife experts are a worried lot as the forest department has not yet come up with any initiative to save the Gangetic dolphin (Platenista Gangetica).

According to wildlife experts, the present number of dolphins is believed to be 94 as per a survey conducted in 2007-2008. "The sanctuary is facing an acute water shortage this summer," Dr Rajiv Chauhan, secretary, Society for Conservation of Nature, told TOI.
Due to the heatwave lashing the area, linked rivers like Yamuna, Sindh, Pahuj and Chambal are receding while other small reservoirs are also on the brink of drying up.
"In the absence of water, the most affected will be aquatic animals, particularly Gangetic dolphins. This aquatic animal needs water not only for drinking but also for playing and bathing. The government agencies should have tried to make better arrangements earlier so that the animals did not suffer. It is high time they should be conserved," Chauhan said further.
He said it was shocking that till date no measures had been adopted by the government to save the Gangetic dolphin even after it was declared the national aquatic animal early this year.
"The Gangetic dolphins found in the region are a rare specie. Earlier, it was found in the Ganga river basin and all the linked rivers. But, now their habitat is limited to only a few rivers. Brahmaputra, Ganges, Chambal rivers are its natural habitat. In these specific rivers, there must be around 2,000 to 2,500 dolphins," informed Dr Rajiv Chauhan, secretary, Society for Conservation of Nature further.
According to the forest department, besides providing a safe harbour to Gangetic dolphin, the 435-km stretch of the Chambal also boasts of crocodiles, smooth-coated otters, species of terrapins and turtles, Ghariyal, Chinkara, Sambar, Nilgai, Chital, Hyena, Wolf, Wild Boar, Bar-headed Goose, Brown Hawk Owl, Booted Eagle, Black-bellied Tern, River Tern, Black Ibis, Jungle Babbler, fishing cats and White Wagtail-to endless varieties of monkeys, reptiles including the python, and a profusion of 250 species of birds which includes the state bird Indian Sarus.
"Gangetic dolphins are the lifeline of Gangetic basin. If the dolphin number increases, it is a sign of pollution-free river. If the number decreases, it is a sign of increasing pollution in the river," informed Neeraj Kumar, deputy conservator of forest, National Chambal Sanctuary, Agra.
Not very long ago, a dead dolphin was recovered from the banks of Chambal in Etawah. The forest department officials said the dolphin had died due to heat, Dr Chauhan said. Though the forest department started a probe into the incident, the final conclusion was reached without proper investigations, he claimed.
Another wildlife enthusiast informed that Gangetic dolphins had been included in the Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, "thereby affording them the highest degree of protection".