New Delhi, Mar 3: India's first-ever riverine dolphin estimation report has revealed 6,327 dolphins across 28 rivers in eight states. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number, followed by Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the report during his visit to Gir National Park in Gujarat, where he chaired the 7th meeting of the National Board for Wildlife.
"During the meeting, Prime Minister released the report of the first-ever riverine dolphin estimation conducted in the country, which estimated a total of 6,327 dolphins. This pioneering effort involved surveying 28 rivers across eight states, with 3150 mandays dedicated to covering over 8,500 kilometres," the environment ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest numbers, followed by Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam.
India's inaugural riverine dolphin population survey, conducted under Project Dolphin, covered 8,500 kilometres across the Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Indus river systems over two years.
In India, Ganges river dolphins inhabit the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system and its tributaries, while a small population of Indus river dolphins resides in the Indus River system.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi emphasised the importance of awareness of dolphin conservation through the involvement of the local population and villagers in the areas.
He also advised organising exposure visits of school children in dolphin habitat areas.
The National Board for Wildlife reviewed various government initiatives for wildlife conservation, highlighting achievements in the creation of new protected areas and species-specific flagship programs such as Project Tiger, Project Elephant, and Project Snow Leopard.
The Board also discussed dolphin and Asiatic lion conservation, along with the establishment of the International Big Cats Alliance.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone of the National Referral Centre for Wildlife at Junagadh. According to the ministry, "it will function as the hub for coordination and governance of various aspects related to wildlife health and disease management."
The Prime Minister also announced the initiation of the 16th cycle of Asiatic lion estimation, scheduled for 2025.
Highlighting the natural dispersal of lions into Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, he said, "Lion conservation in Barda will be supported through prey augmentation and other habitat improvement efforts." He also stressed the need for ease of travelling and connectivity for wildlife tourism to promote ecotourism.
To strengthen human- wildlife conflict management, the Prime Minister announced "the establishment of a Centre of Excellence at Wildlife Institute of India--Campus in SACON (Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History), Coimbatore."
This centre will assist states and Union Territories by equipping Rapid Response Teams with advanced technology, tracking gadgets, and surveillance systems to mitigate human- wildlife conflict.
PM Modi further stressed the importance of leveraging technology in wildlife conservation, stating that aEURoeremote sensing, geospatial mapping, artificial Intelligence, and machine Learning should be used to combat forest fires and human-animal conflicts.
He suggested that the Wildlife Institute of India work with the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) to address these challenges.
For enhanced forest fire monitoring, the Prime Minister advised collaboration between the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, and BISAG-N to improve aEURoeprediction, detection, prevention, and control.
Expanding India's wildlife conservation initiatives, he announced that "the Cheetah introduction will be expanded to other areas, including the Gandhisagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Banni Grasslands in Gujarat."
Additionally, he introduced a scheme focused on the conservation of tigers outside protected reserves, stating that it aims to "address human-tiger and other co-predator conflicts in areas outside these reserves by ensuring co-existence with local communities."
Recognizing the decline in gharial populations, the Prime Minister announced the initiation of a new Project on Gharials for their conservation.
Similarly, he launched the National Great Indian Bustard Conservation Action Plan to scale up efforts to protect the endangered bird species.
The Prime Minister also directed the Environment Ministry to gather traditional knowledge and manuscripts on forest and wildlife conservation for research and development.
He emphasized that Gir is a success story of Lion and Leopard conservation and suggested that traditional conservation knowledge be documented using AI for use in other national parks and sanctuaries.
Acknowledging India's growing network of community reserves, the Prime Minister stated that "over the past decade, India has witnessed more than sixfold increase in the number of community reserves."
He also highlighted the role of advanced technologies, including AI, in wildlife conservation and advised further research on medicinal plants in forests, noting that plant-based medicine systems could play a crucial role in animal health management on a global scale.
Following the meeting, he flagged off motorcycles for frontline forest staff and interacted with field-level personnel, including eco-guides, trackers, and forest staff at Gir. (ANI)

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