[ 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.
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