Lakhimpur Kheri (Uttar Pradesh):After about a 24-hour long rescue operation, the South Kheri forest officials, WWF-India, WTI and Turtle Services Alliance (TSA) and irrigation department successfully rescued a group of nearly a dozen dolphins, including their calves, back to the Ghaghara river, officials on Sunday said. The operation was completed late Saturday evening, they said.
Gangetic dolphins, which are found in the Ghaghara river, were stranded in the Sharda canal about 4 km south from the Sharda barrage on Thursday. Gangetic dolphins have been categorized as schedule 1 aquatic animal in the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022, and find place under protected wildlife species.
Division Forest Officer (DFO), South Kheri Forest Division, Sanjay Biswal, camped at the spot along with WWF project director Dabir Hasan, WII expert Vipul Maurya, WTI expert Shruti Singh and TSA scientist Dr Shailendra Singh till all the dolphins were successfully rescued back to the Ghaghara river.
"On Friday, reports were received that a group of about ten Gangetic dolphins had been sighted stranded in the shallow waters of Sharda canal and they were unable to swim to safety owing to inadequate water level," Biswal told PTI. "Among these, four to five dolphins were stranded in 2.5 to 3 feet deep waters in the canal and their situation was reported critical owing to the presence of their calves with them and heat temperature soaring high," he added.