Gangetic Dolphin is now Uttar Pradesh’s aquatic animal, announces Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on October 7 officially declared the Gangetic Dolphin as the state’s aquatic animal. The BJP leader further emphasised the importance of maintaining the cleanliness of ponds and rivers, especially those like the Ganga, Yamuna, Chambal, Ghaghra, Rapti, and Gerua, where these dolphins are frequently spotted.

"It's important for both tourists and local residents to refrain from using plastic, as it harms our water and nature," CM Yogi said.

Gangetic dolphins estimated population & the census 

The estimated population of Gangetic dolphins in Uttar Pradesh is estimated at around 2,000.

In Garh Ganga at Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh, teams from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Forest Department have recently been using GPS to count dolphins.

Speaking on the ongoing dolphin census, DFO Sanjay Kumar Mall said, “This is a campaign named Meri Ganga Meri Dolphin 2023 campaign. Under this, counting of dolphins is being done in river Ganga from near Muzaffarpur Barrage to the entire Narora Barrage. In this, counting is being done through joint action by both WWF and Forest Department teams. There is a method of counting in it, such that there are two teams, each of which runs at a speed of 10 kilometres per hour, and there is a gap of 10 minutes between them. The entire team from Muzaffarpur to Narora Barrage will see how many dolphins dip in this interval."

"That team watches the dolphin diving and notes down its GPS location, and then another team comes and notes down its GPS location. It shows that if it comes after an interval of 10 minutes then it is the same dolphin, if it does not come then it is another dolphin then the counting is done in the same way," DFO Sanjay Kumar added.

The DFO further remarked that in the old data, there were 22 dolphins counted in 2015, 30 dolphins in 2016, 32 dolphins in 2017, 33 dolphins in 2018, 35 dolphins in 2019 and 41 dolphins in 2020.

CM Yogi’s advice on interaction with wildlife 

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also emphasised the significance of educating locals on how to interact with wildlife.

In order to generate employment possibilities and increase awareness among the community, the UP CM also proposed training individuals from villages connected to the Tiger Reserve as guides.