Jharkhand

• 16 May 2022

The State Government Proposed Two Sites For Dolphin Safari project

Why In news

• On May 15, 2022, Sahibganj Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Jharkhand Manish Tiwari informed that the state government has proposed two sites on river Ganga in Sahibganj district for dolphin safari to promote conservation of national aquatic life of the country.

Key Point

• DFO Manish Tewari said that as per the demand of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the state government has identified two sites at Singhidlan in Rajmahal and Ojhatoli in Sahibganj for the project.
• He said both the sites could be linked to the Centre's Dolphin Jalaj Safari project. The distance between the two sites is about 40 km.
• Recently, the central government had sought a proposal from the state government for an eco-tourism project for two places, Sahibganj and Rajmahal. The state government had submitted its plan by the end of April.
• Manish Tewari said that the presence of dolphins and economic and tourism prospects were considered while selecting the sites. The proposed sites will help in better monitoring of these species and promote local employment through tourism.
• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) had launched the safari project at six places in the country - Bijnor, Brijghat, Prayagraj and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Kahalgaon in Bihar and Bandel in West Bengal in October 2020.
• It may be mentioned that dolphins protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 are found in an 83-km stretch of river Ganga in Sahibganj district of Jharkhand. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had conducted a survey in January this year on the part of the Ganga in Jharkhand, where 81 dolphins were found.