KANPUR: Young crusaders comprising school children have been roped in to spread awareness about the highly endangered Gangetic dolphins (Platenista Gangetica) through a 'Dolphin mela', being organised at the Vikas Bhawan auditorium of Etawah district on Friday.
Organised by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), North, in association with the Society for Conservation of Nature and Social Forestry division of Etawah, as part of the Union ministry of environment and forest's ongoing Gangetic River Dolphin Conservation Education Programme, the Dolphin mela will see participation of students and teachers from across 22 schools situated within the proximity of Chambal river in the district.
"The young conservationists will now be part of a programme that involves spreading awareness among people about the need to save this national aquatic animal from extinction. The mela will witness activities like poster-making, environmental quiz and slogan-writing, besides a film show for awareness among students and locals," informed District Forest Officer, Manik Chandra Yadav.
Dolphin Mela has been organised to highlight the need to conserve the Gangetic river dolphin, a rare specie found in Chambal, besides in the Brahmaputra and Ganga, Meghna and Karnaphuli river systems. "We have involved students and teachers of nearly 22 schools located in close proximity to the Chambal river," DFO, Yadav, added.
The students will also be taken to some popular dolhpin sites along the river Chambal. "There, we will spread awareness among students on how to increase the count of the aquatic animal," said Rajiv Chauhan, secretary, society for conservation of nature. The mela aims at sensitizing students towards exhorting their elders to help protect the endangered specie.
"We are hopeful that the mela will drew a huge crowd and will change young children's mindset making them proactive towards conservation of the rare specie. There have been instances when people have killed the animal when it got entangled in the fishing net or for procuring its oil for medicinal purposes," said DFO Manik Chandra Yadav further. On August 5, a 134 cm long Gangetic dolphin was found dead in the rivulet in Sahson area close to Chambal river in Etawah district.
Gangetic river dolphins fall under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and have been declared an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Gangetic river dolphins are one of the four freshwater dolphins in the world. The three others are found in Yangtze river in China, Indus in Pakistan and Amazon in South America.
The Gangetic river species, found in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, is blind and finds its way and prey in the river waters through 'echoes'.
Research studies under the Ganga Action plan in the 1980s estimated presence of around 6,000 dolphins in its distribution range across the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli river systems. Sadly, now there are only 2,000 Gangetic river dolphins left in India.
The dolphins, known as platenista gangetica, aka 'susu', are rare. Earlier, these were found in the Ganga river basin and all linked rivers. But now, its habitat is limited to a few rivers. Brahmaputra, Ganga and Chambal rivers are their natural habitat.
The Gangetic dolphins have been declared as the National Aquatic Animal of India in the first meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in October 2009. A huge sum of Rs 900 crore has been spent for cleaning the river under the Ganga Action Plan in order to revive the dwindling population of Gangetic dolphin.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Centre-for-Environment-Education-turns-to-kids-to-save-dolphin/articleshow/16390309.cms
