The disappearance of tigers may have awakened the conservationist in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He not only made a hurried visit to Ranthambhore but also was quick to set-up a high-powered Tiger Task Force to conserve the last of the remaining species. But, in the absence of an authentic system to count the big cats, it isn't clear how many of them actually roam our jungles, if at all. Preliminary findings of the task force indicate that neither have the laws and regulations worked nor have guns and guards helped in curtailing rampant tiger poaching.
So much for the tigers. But what about the hapless river dolphins whose exact number is not known and whose fate is akin to that of the big cats? The dolphins' plight is glaringly evident some 100-km away from Delhi, at Garmukteshwar, where only 25 of them survive to swim the dirty waters of the Ganges. This warrants a visit by the Prime Minister. The district authorities at Ghaziabad are shockingly at ease to enforce the Wildlife Protection Act 1974 to save the dwindling count of one of the six species of river dolphins in the world!
Blind at birth, these acquiescent mammals are up against those who have their eyes wide shut. Earlier, the dolphin population was large, swimming up and down the silt-laden waters of the mighty Ganges and the Brahmaputra. Now its population is down to a mere 2000. This number seems ecologically inadequate. The rivers meandering through densely populated regions seems to be the main reason for these cetaceans landing into the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.
Unlike other wild species, river dolphins face a barrage of multiple threats. Being visually impaired, they involuntarily get trapped in fishing nets. Agricultural and industrial development and oblatory sewage adds to the woes of these harmless creatures. Irresponsible river basin management seems the proverbial nail in the coffin as sequestering of population leads to inbreeding that renders the species further vulnerable. Experts argue that the 'visual impairment' does not affect them as much as the government turning a blind eye to their plight.
Dolphins are to the rivers what tigers are to the jungles. River dolphins are the umbrella species of a river system. They are indispensable not just as a natural aquatic heritage, but also as a 'mirror' to reflect the health of a river. But like most wildlife conservation projects in the country, the Dolphin Conservation Project, too, has failed. It is evident that a plethora of wildlife regulations and environmental laws haven't been effective in protecting the most intelligent animal that is physiologically unable to protect itself and is consequently at the mercy of humans.
However, all may not be lost if timely curative action is taken. In one stretch of the Ganges, the number of river dolphins seems to have nearly doubled from 22 to 42 over the past decade. The Worldwide Fund for Nature claims that its conservation efforts over the past 13 years along the 164 km stretch of the river from Bijnor to Narora has helped revive the species. However, downstream of Narora there are no dolphins for the next 300km as the waters are heavily contaminated. It must be noted that an Atomic Power Plant is located at Narora.
The river dolphins, also referred to as 'bottlenose dolphins' because of their long beaks, love to swim in fresh waters! Typically, they swim at 5 to 12 kilometres per hour and may need adequate depth of water to traverse a distance of 32 kilometres in one hour. Construction of barrages to divert water for irrigation all along the stretch of the Ganges are conveniently destroying the dolphin's habitat. These barrages are equally effective in blocking the seasonal migration of these mariners.
The case in point is that even if the Government decides to extend the area of the Vikramshila River Dolphin Sanctuary in Jharkhand - the only one of its kind in Asia - the crucial issue is that of sustaining flows in the river so that the dolphins released after captive breeding are able to survive! Given the current penchant for linking rivers to bring about some kind of equity in river water distribution across the country, these animals are likely to be the first victims of such mindless destruction of the rivers.
Like many mammals, river dolphins have the ability to communicate by using sound. Though scientists do not believe that dolphins have a language like humans, yet each dolphin makes a unique signature whistle that helps it communicate with other dolphins. If we claim to be the most intelligent creatures, the onus is on us to listen to the signature whistle the river dolphins have been generating for their survival for quite sometime now.
The Prime Minister should also focus his attention towards these animals and listen to the whistle of these dolphins and review the manner in which the country has been (ill) treating its wildlife and has pushed most of the species to the brink of extinction.
