Bhopal: The dolphin population in the Chambal river in Madhya Pradesh has been reduced by more than one-third. Ever-increasing pollution and rampant poaching are the apparent culprits. From 93, the number of dolphins has fallen to 69 in the last three years. According to the census conducted by the authorities of the National Chambal Sanctuary, 40 of these dolphins are adults, 21 adolescents and 8 calves.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, covering the entire 435-km flow of the Chambal river through the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, was created to protect aqua life in the Chambal.
These include alligators, crocodiles, dolphins and some species of tortoises.
The existence of dolphins in the Chambal was first discovered in 1985 during a census of alligators in the sanctuary. The Ganges River Dolphins - as the species found in the Chambal is known - are also found in the Brahmaputra and the Ganga river systems. The Ganges River Dolphins are an endangered species. These dolphins are blind and are hunted for their meat and to make oil. They are unsuspecting and friendly by nature and this makes hunting them a relatively easy proposition, forest department officials say.
Another home for the big cat in State
Deccan Herald, Wednesday, October 11, 2006
DH News Service Bangalore:
With the Centre’s clearance coming through, Karnataka is all set to have its fourth tiger reserve — at Anshi in Dandeli, Uttara Kannada district.
Talking to reporters on Tuesday, Minister for Forest and Environment C Chennigappa said, “The tiger reserve project has been planned on over 600 sq km, on a budget of Rs three crore.”
The Dandeli-Anshi tiger reserve comes after Nagarahole, Bandipur and Bhadra tiger reserves. Mr Chennigappa said preliminary work on the tiger reserve would be kicked off this year. The Minister said the government would allocate an annual fund of Rs 25,000 each for the formation and activities of Village Forest Committees (VFC) in Gram Panchayats.
Around 1,000 GPs will be brought under the plan this year, he said. The VFCs will work to build awareness on environment and afforestation. Addressing the issue of rampant illegal mining in Bellary, Kanakapura, Chamarajanagar and Chikmagalur, Mr Chennigappa said the State government would tighten curbs on miners by insisting that the latter should also contribute to afforestation.
“We will ensure that before miners move their activities to another area, they grow plants in areas they had tapped for mining,” he said.
Afforestation
The Minister said the State was going full throttle on its afforestation programme and that 38 per cent of forest land had already been covered under the programme.
He said the Butterfly Park in Bannerghatta was expected to be open by November 22 or 24.
He said the government would make a compensation offer to people volunteering to move out of settlements in Kudremukh national park areas.
