Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced ‘Project Dolphin’ with the aim to give a stronger impetus for the conservation of the species in the lines of Project Tiger and Project Elephant.
The announcement was made while the Prime Minister was addressing the nation on the occasion of 74th Independence Day.
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“We will also launch ‘Project Dolphin’ for protecting the ocean and Gangetic dolphins,” PM Modi said from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
The declaration comes a decade after the Gangetic Dolphins were declared national aquatic animals,
It may be mentioned here that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has made elaborate plans to launch the 10-year project ‘Gangetic Dolphin’ led by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.
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The Gangetic River Dolphin is found in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli River system of India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
In India, these dolphins are sighted along deep river reaches in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
As per the assessment, there are about 3,700 Gangetic River Dolphins in the Indian river systems.
It may be mentioned here that river dolphins act as ideal ecological indicators of healthy riverine ecosystems.
Implementation of the “Project Gangetic Dolphin” envisions a healthy river ecosystem not only protecting the biodiversity of the river but also taking into consideration the wellbeing of the people depending on its resources.