Standing Committee of National Board for Wild Life recommends celebrating October 5 as National Dolphin Day

New Delhi, March 29, 2022

The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wild Life, which met here last week, has recommended celebrating October 5 as National Dolphin Day to create awareness about the conservation of the aquatic mammal.

Chairing the 67th meeting of the Standing Committee, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav said generating awareness and community participation was integral for the conservation of the indicator species. The Gangetic dolphin’s status, as an indicator species, provides information on the overall condition of the ecosystem and other species.

"Healthy aquatic ecosystems help in maintaining the overall health of the planet. The dolphin acts as an ideal ecological indicator of a healthy aquatic ecosystem and its conservation will benefit the survival of the species and also, the people dependent on the aquatic system for their livelihood," an official press release said.

The Ministry has been taking up several activities for the protection and conservation of dolphins and their habitats. Considering that generating awareness among the people on the benefits of conservation and participation in conservation efforts was imperative, the Standing Committee recommended that every year, October 5 should be celebrated as National Dolphin Day.

The Standing Committee discussed several important policy issues and the proposals for wildlife clearances forwarded by the State Governments and the Union Territory administrations, the release said.

The committee also considered 46 proposals for wildlife clearance and recommended several projects of public importance and essential for improving the livelihood of local communities such as providing electricity in remote villages in Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, drinking water supply to villagers in Karnataka. Projects of strategic importance such as road and border outpost in the Union Territory of Ladakh were also recommended during the meeting.

The committee recommended four proposals for the construction of earthen dams in Haryana to improve irrigation facilities. These dams will also recharge groundwater in a sanctuary to benefit the wildlife.

It recommended a road project under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in Uttarakhand to provide connectivity to remote villages with appropriate animal passage structures.

A project for harnessing the geothermal energy for power generation and other direct heat applications by drilling through rocks overlying the geothermal reservoir in Ladakh was also recommended in the meeting with appropriate mitigation measures.

NNN