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Forest minister nod to first-ever dolphin population study along Mumbai coast
The survey will start in October and may be completed within 18 months, at a budget of ₹33.16 lakh
Mumbai: Three months after it was first announced, cabinet minister for forests, Sudhir Mungatiwar, on Tuesday approved the first ever population estimation study of dolphins and finless porpoises in and around Mumbai’s coastline. The proposal had been tabled earlier by the Mangrove and Marine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation. The survey will start in October and may be completed within 18 months, at a budget of ₹33.16 lakh.
The exercise will be carried out in collaboration with the Coastal Conservation Foundation (CCF), along 70kms of shoreline, and within 10kms of it. This is the first time an official assessment of this magnitude will occur in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
“It is a matter of pride for the entire country that Maharashtra has decided to undertake such a unique study to document the wealth of its biodiversity. It echoes the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on August 15, 2020, on Project Dolphin that focuses on the long term conservation and protection of dolphins in rivers and in oceans of the country,” Mungantiwar said.
The study area will cover the western seaboard starting at the mouth of the Vaitarna river in the north to the Thane creek in the south as well as the southern tip of Greater Mumbai. The area will also include multiple bays such as Back Bay, Haji Ali and Mahim Bay as well as five river mouths in MMR including Mithi, Dahisar, Poisar, Oshiwara and Vaitarna, which represents the habitat preferred by the two focal species - dolphins and porpoises.
Earlier this year, a preliminary study by the CCF determined the population and habitat usage of Indian Ocean humpback dolphins in the Backbay region of south Mumbai with 27 confirmed sightings (of dolphins), of which the largest group comprised six individuals.
