Stretch of Hoogly to be developed as a Ganges River dolphin reserve

The Ganges river dolphin is considered to be the national aquatic animal of India and, it would get more protection in Bengal because a stretch of the Hoogly River between Malda and Sagar is planned to be developed as a dolphin community reserve.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 3 October 2015.

Bengal is home to the Irrawaddy dolphin and the Ganges river dolphin and, while the habitat of the Irrawaddy dolphins is comparatively protected being a part of the Sunderbans, the same is not done for the Ganga river dolphin. Hence, the focus on Hooghly and the Ganges river dolphin.
The state chief wildlife warden has indicated that the proposal would be placed for approval at the tenth meeting of the state wildlife board at Nabanna on October 8.
The importance of this is that the dolphin is a sort of bio-monitoring tool of river health and, therefore, the conservation of the Ganges river dolphin will also ensure protection of the ecology of river Hooghly.
The prime threat to the species is loss of habitat as a result of irrigation projects and pollution. The Ganges river dolphins are found in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
It had been declared as the national aquatic animal of India in 2010 and, as revealed by sources, there are less than 2,000 such dolphins left in the country.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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