DOLPHINS IN
GANGA
Summary
Dams have destroyed the habitat and ecology of animals in rivers and in particular in Ganga River. The discharge of chemicals and sewage is causing the rapid decline of animals in the rivers and the dolphin is now endangered. The bioconcentration factors of the chemicals are totally unacceptable and presents a suicidal situation for all life and abiota(Tables 1 and 2). The ecology of the habitat having been destroyed we see no future for the dolphins. Also the dams are causing the proliferation of dangerous bacteria. By applying set theory of Goedel to the sets of animals and plants after the advent of dams, we can, by applying the precautionary principle, suggest that all the flu pandemics and the bird flu and caronavirus proliferation is the result of dams destroying nature completely.
The status history
from the 1980s
1.0
See MARINE MAMMAL
SCIENCE, 10(3):368-375(July 1994)
© 1994 by the Society
for Marine Mammalogy
STATUS OF GANGES
RIVER DOLPHINS(PLATANISTA GANGETICA) IN THE KARNALI,
MAHAKALI,NARAYANI AND SAPTA KOSI RIVERS OF NEPAL AND INDIA IN 1993
Brian D. Smith et al
The Ganges river
dolphin, Platanista gangetica,
or susu, is a freshwaterdolphin
distributed thrpoughout the Ganges/Brahmaputra/Meghna river systemsin India,
Bangladesh and Nepal(Jones 1982).The World
Conservation Unionregards the species as vulnerable (Klinowska 1991). The total world population has been
crudely estimated to be 4000-5000 animals, with very small numbers in Nepal(Jones 1982).
Details of commission
of barrages: Mahakali 1929,Sapta
Kosi 1965, Narayani 1970, Karnali 1976.
Susus are found normally downstream of shallow
areas or tributary junctions alone or less frequently in groups of 2-3(Jones
1982).Smith(1993) observed groups of 1-3 susus(mean
1.38,sd 0.04, n=72) in the Karnali river most often
in “primary habitats” where convergent streams create an eddy counter-current
system in the mainstream flow. Less often the dolphins are found in “marginal
habitats” where a sharp upstream bend creates a similar eddy counter-current
system but of smaller dimensions. Census surveys of susus
on the four largest river basins in Nepal(See data on barrages above) in low
water seasons 19-25 Feb,1-3 Mar,12-18 Mar and 26Mar-3 Apr 1993 respcly. The rivers are located downstream of the Siwalik
foothills of the Nepal Himalayas, and represent the extreme upstream limits of
Ganges river dolphin distribution as well as the upstream limits of gharial
crocs(Gavialis gangeticus),smooth
Indian otters(Lutra perspicillata),Asian
small clawed otters(Aonyx cinerea),
soft shell turtles(Aspiredetes gangeticus,
Chitra indica),and
hard-shell turtles(Kachuga spp.).
All four river
systems have the following characteristics:
1.Alluvial braided channels, 2. Relatively high velocity flows compared with
downstream waters,3. Large seasonal and year to year
variations in stream-flows and sediment transport,4.
Mixed use riparian areas, with small settlements and subsistence farmers and
fishermen frequently on one bank and forested jungle and grassland contained
within national parks or ‘wild’life refuges on the
other bank. At one time all four rivers
were open to the Ganga river system but now are affected by barrages(dates
of commissioning above). Barrages are low dams used to divert water for
irrigation and ‘flood-control’. The Narayani and Sapta Kosi rivers are contained behind
barrages at the Nepal-India border and the Karnali
river behind a barrage located approx. 20 km downstream of the border in Kailashpuri,
India. These barrages have isolated living species populations from any
possible GENERIC INTERCHANGE with animals inhabiting downstream waters.Dolphins upstream of the barrage may move downstream
through the barrages during flood periods, RESULTING IN A PERMANENT LOSS OF
ANIMALS to an already fragmented population.The
barrages also block the movement of migratory fish to spawning streams of the
Himalayan foothills. The Mahakali river
in Nepal is located below a barrage that severely reduces downstream flow. No
dolphins were observed in the section of the Mahakali
river that flows through Nepal. During the low water season
there is not enough water released by the upstream barrage to support river dolphins(a max depth of 20 cm in some crosssections).
Local villagers report that dolphins are sometimes seen in the Mahakalijust below the Nepal/India border during the monsoon
season.
POPULATIONS DOOMED TO EXTINCTION
BECAUSE OF THE BARRAGES
Dolphins inhabiting the Narayani and Sapta Kosi rivers do not represent viable populations at all.
Since new immigrants are blocked by barrages at the Nepal/India border, we
consider these populations doomed to extinction.
International Journal
of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 23:343-355,1997.
© International
Scientific Publications,New
Delhi.
Status and
Conservation of Ganges River Dolphin in Bhagirathi-Hooghly River Systems in
India.
R.K. Sinha,
Environmental Biology Laboratory,Zoology
Department,Patna Univ.,Patna-800005,India.
Abstract:
The Ganges river
dolphin, Platinista gangetica,is
a freshwater dolphin, commonly known as susu and is
distributed in Ganga-Brahmaputra-Megna and Karnaphuli river systems in India,Nepal
and Bangladesh.It is found in freshwater and
estuarine zones but never enters sea.It is one of the
four freshwater cetacean species found in the world.
Overexploitation
and habitat destruction are the major factors for rapid decline in dolphin population.Construction of Farraka
barrage in the mid 1970s has genetically isolated the
susu population.
The case of
dams on the Yangtse and the dolphin habitat.
Some references.
1. Modern Civilisation: The 1918-1919 Pandemic Flu: Dams the cause by
R.Ashok Kumar,dated 2009, at the link
https://stopflowcatchflu.blogspot.com/2009/05/modern-civilisation-1918-1919-pandemic.html
2.See the present status of gangetic river dolphins at
https://currentaffairs.gktoday.in/tags/gangetic-dolphin
3. R. Ashok Kumar.2012.
3. R. Ashok Kumar.2012.
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