Executive committee of National Mission on Clean Ganga (NMCG) approves key biodiversity projects

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These projects aim to enhance the conservation of River Ganga and its aquatic life.

Key projects approved

Project for assessing the Environmental flow of the Chambal, Son, Damodar and Tons rivers
Project for Conservation of endangered turtles in the Ganga basin in Uttar Pradesh
- Rehabilitating endangered turtle species and reintroducing three highly threatened turtle species.
- Establishing a Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool at the National Chambal Sanctuary.
Advancing Rescue System for the Protection of Stranded Ganges River Dolphins.
- Objective: Development of a specialized rescue vehicle - Dolphin Ambulance - to assist dolphins in distress.
- It will focus on raising awareness for dolphin conservation and community capacity building through training.

Habitat: India (Ganga-Brahmaputra-Barak river system); Nepal and Bangladesh.
Characteristics: Freshwater species, essentially blind and hunt by emitting ultrasonic sound.
Threats: Entanglement in fishing gear; Poaching for dolphin oil; Habitat destruction due to development projects; Pollution through industrial wastes, pesticides etc.
Conservation status: Endangered (IUCN); Appendix I (CITES); Schedule I (Wildlife Protection Act).

Declared as ‘National Aquatic Animal of India’.
Included as one of 22 critically endangered species for providing financial assistance to States under the Centrally sponsored scheme ‘Development of Wildlife Habitats’.
Project Dolphin to conserve the Ganges river dolphins and its riverine ecosystem.
Important habitats has been notified as Protected Areas, such as Vikramshila Dolphin Sanctuary, Bihar (India’s sole dolphin sanctuary).