{"id":45224,"date":"2025-03-05T07:56:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T02:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=45224"},"modified":"2025-05-06T18:21:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T12:51:34","slug":"indias-first-comprehensive-river-dolphin-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/indias-first-comprehensive-river-dolphin-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s First Comprehensive River Dolphin Survey: Key Findings, Hotspots &#038; Conservation Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>India River Dolphin Survey Latest News<\/li>\n<li>Key Findings of the Riverine Dolphin Survey (2021-2023)<\/li>\n<li>Survey Methodology and Challenges<\/li>\n<li>Dolphin \u2018Hotspots\u2019 and \u2018Coldspots\u2019<\/li>\n<li>India River Dolphin Survey FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>India River Dolphin Survey Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of India&#8217;s first comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Conducted between 2021 and 2023 across the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins, the survey estimated an average of 6,324 Gangetic dolphins. Only three Indus River dolphins were found in the Beas River, Punjab.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The study highlights threats to these endangered species, including pollution, habitat damage, prey decline, and climate change. Both species are accorded the highest protection under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key Findings of the Riverine Dolphin Survey (2021-2023)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>This first-of-its-kind survey provides crucial insights into the status of endangered riverine dolphins and highlights the need for conservation efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Survey Overview<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Conducted by the <strong>Wildlife Institute of India<\/strong> under the Union Environment Ministry.<\/li>\n<li>Covered 28 rivers by boat and 30 rivers by road across the Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Beas River basins.<\/li>\n<li>Surveyed 7,109 km of the Ganga and its tributaries, 1,297 km of the Brahmaputra system, and 101 km of the Beas River.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dolphin Population Estimates<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Total Gangetic dolphins: 6,324 (range: 5,977 to 6,688).<\/li>\n<li>Ganga\u2019s main stem: 3,275<\/li>\n<li>Ganga\u2019s tributaries: 2,414<\/li>\n<li>Brahmaputra\u2019s main stem: 584<\/li>\n<li>Brahmaputra\u2019s tributaries: 51<\/li>\n<li>Indus River dolphins: Only 3, found in the Beas River, Punjab.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>State-wise Distribution of Gangetic Dolphins<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Uttar Pradesh \u2013 2,397 (highest population).<\/li>\n<li>Bihar \u2013 2,220.<\/li>\n<li>West Bengal \u2013 815.<\/li>\n<li>Jharkhand \u2013 162.<\/li>\n<li>Rajasthan &amp; Madhya Pradesh \u2013 95.<\/li>\n<li>Punjab \u2013 3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Survey Methodology and Challenges<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Challenges in Dolphin Population Estimation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>River dolphins live in <strong>turbid, opaque waters<\/strong> and surface only briefly, making population estimation difficult.<\/li>\n<li>Dolphins surface for <strong>only 1.26 seconds<\/strong> and dive for <strong>107 seconds<\/strong>, leading to:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Observer error<\/strong> \u2013 Some surfacing dolphins may be missed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Availability error<\/strong> \u2013 Some dolphins may not surface during the counting period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Survey Techniques<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Visual Surveys<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Double Observer Method<\/strong> (for deep and wide channels):<\/li>\n<li>Two teams positioned on different decks scan both sides of the vessel.<\/li>\n<li>The boat travels at <strong>8-10 km\/hour<\/strong> to prevent double counting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tandem Method<\/strong> (for channels &lt;600m wide, &lt;3m deep).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Single Boat Method<\/strong> (for channels &lt;300m wide, &lt;2m deep).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Acoustic Surveys<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Uses <strong>underwater microphones (hydrophones)<\/strong> to detect dolphin echolocation clicks.<\/li>\n<li>Dolphins, being <strong>functionally blind<\/strong>, navigate using echolocation.<\/li>\n<li>Multiple hydrophones help <strong>triangulate dolphin locations<\/strong> and <strong>reduce observer error<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>This multi-method approach improves accuracy in estimating the endangered dolphin population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Dolphin \u2018Hotspots\u2019 and \u2018Coldspots\u2019<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Coldspots \u2013 Areas with Low or No Dolphin Presence<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ganga River:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Narora to Kanpur (366 km)<\/strong> \u2013 Extremely low encounter rate (0.1 dolphins\/km).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Farukkhabad-Kannauj<\/strong> (between Narora and Kanpur barrages) \u2013 Another coldspot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Other Coldspots:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Yamuna River (Kaushambi-Chitrakoot).<\/li>\n<li>Sharda River (Pilibhit).<\/li>\n<li>Rapti River (Balrampur-Siddharth Nagar).<\/li>\n<li>Barak River (Assam).<\/li>\n<li>Declining dolphin population in Subansiri and Kulsi rivers (Assam).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hotspots \u2013 Areas with High Dolphin Population<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Uttar Pradesh \u2013 Encounter rate of 0.62 dolphins\/km.<\/li>\n<li>Bihar \u2013 Highest encounter rate of 1.62 dolphins\/km, attributed to deeper river channels and tributary confluences (Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi, Son).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Densely Populated Stretches<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Chausa-Manihar (590 km) \u2013 2.20 dolphins\/km.<\/li>\n<li>Manihari (Bihar) to Rajmahal (Jharkhand) \u2013 2.75 dolphins\/km (highest density).<\/li>\n<li>Assam \u2013 Despite deep water in the Brahmaputra, its tributaries had low average depth, affecting dolphin population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The survey highlights the influence of river depth and habitat conditions on dolphin distribution, identifying key areas for conservation efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>India River Dolphin Survey FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.<\/strong> What is India\u2019s first river dolphin survey?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> India\u2019s first comprehensive survey (2021-2023) estimated 6,324 Gangetic dolphins across the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins, highlighting conservation challenges.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2. <\/strong>How many Gangetic dolphins were recorded in the survey?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>The survey recorded 6,324 Gangetic dolphins, with Uttar Pradesh having the highest population (2,397) and Bihar following closely (2,220).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3. <\/strong>What are dolphin hotspots and coldspots?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>Bihar has the highest dolphin density (2.75\/km), while Narora-Kanpur and certain Yamuna, Sharda, and Rapti river stretches are coldspots.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4. <\/strong>What methods were used in the survey?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>Visual and acoustic methods, including hydrophones and observer-based techniques, ensured accurate dolphin population estimates in different river conditions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5. <\/strong>Why is dolphin conservation important?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>River dolphins face threats from pollution, habitat loss, prey depletion, and climate change, necessitating urgent conservation efforts under India\u2019s Wildlife Protection Act.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/survey-river-dolphins-9868566\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/wildlife-biodiversity\/india-has-an-estimated-6327-river-dolphins-across-eight-states-centre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">DTE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India&#8217;s first river dolphin survey estimates 6,324 Gangetic dolphins. Discover key findings, hotspots, coldspots, and conservation challenges in the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}