PATNA
The long awaited interim office of the National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) was inaugurated by minister for environment, forests and climate change Neeraj Kumar at the Dolphin research laboratory of the Zoology department of Patna University on Friday.
It will run under Dr Gopal Sharma, regional head of the Zoological Survey of India (Bihar & Jharkhand), and his team comprising PU teachers and researchers.
Last year, ahead of Assembly elections, chief minister Nitish Kumar had laid the foundation stone of the centre in the PU campus.
Dolphin man RK Sinha, presently the vice chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (Jammu & Kashmir) who was awarded Padma Shree in 2016 for his contributions to dolphin research, carried out pioneering activity for nearly over three-and-a-half decades in the same laboratory. He was also present on the occasion and said it was an emotional moment for him to see the Centre was finally taking shape.
Sinha is also a member of the Steering Committee for implementation of Project Dolphin, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2020.
Bihar accounts for 50% of the world’s river dolphin population, highly endangered species under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and declared the National Aquatic Animal in 2009.
{{/usCountry}}Bihar accounts for 50% of the world’s river dolphin population, highly endangered species under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and declared the National Aquatic Animal in 2009.
{{/usCountry}}Sinha said the NDRC would be a big step forward for the conservation of the mammal, especially after announcement of Project Dolphin last year on the lines of Project Tiger.
Minister Kumar said Bihar, having the highest population of Gangetic Dolphins, will get a substantial share of funds committed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for research on dolphins.
The NDRC is a long-pending project, but it got further delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic. The erstwhile Planning Commission had sanctioned a sum of ₹28.06 crore for it in 2013 and subsequently the state government also released a sum of ₹19.16 crore for the project.