Good news on the wildlife front is so rare these days thatit is not believed in the first instance. Perhaps, that’s why when thepopulation of the endangered Gangetic river dolphin was found to have grown to223 in November 2011 from about 175 during the previous year at the VikramshilaGangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (VGDS), the country’s only river dolphin sanctuaryin Bhagalpur district of Bihar; a double-check was thought necessary. Thesurvey carried out by the Vikramshila Biodiversity Research and EducationCentre (VBREC), a wing of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU), had rerunsin February and June of 2012. The final result of three surveys reportedpresence of at least 238 dolphins (15 more than what the first survey hadrevealed) in a stretch of 60 km of the Ganga from Sultanganj to Kahalgoan,which comes under Bhagalpur district.
For Dr Sunil Kumar Choudhary, a professor of botany at TMBUwho works as the coordinator of VBREC and had also headed the teams whichcarried out these surveys; it was a defining moment of his life. Choudhary andhis team have worked tirelessly in this aquatic sanctuary for the past 14years. The VBREC was formed in 1998 for the conservation of the cetaceanpopulation at VGDS. Choudhary used his unique human angle approach to savedying dolphins here. “We mostly understood the fisherman’s problems and triedto solve them. If you can solve all his problems, dolphins will automaticallysurvive,” he says.
Reign of jal zamindars
In 1991, the stretch of Ganga river from Sultanganj toKahalgaon was notified as VGDS. The stretch, known for its sizeable fishpopulation, had been controlled by panidars or jal zamindars, a class of feudallords who claimed rights over the river since the time of Mughal kings. Theydeployed criminals to collect taxes from the fishermen and others using theriver in any other way. Such was their terror that nobody dared to venture inthis stretch without their permission. Killing of Gangetic dolphins, locallyknown as ‘soons’, was rampant all these years: the fat extracted from theanimal is used as bait to catch other fish. But killing of dolphins did notabate even after VGDS came into existence. In fact, it became more frequent inthe 1990s.
A sanctuary on paper
When Choudhary arrived here, the sanctuary existed only onpaper. In fact, he came to know about its existence only when Sinha had toldhim about VGDS. He formed VBREC in 1998. Soon another nature conservationist,Subhasish Dey, joined him in his effort. A few more people also joined VBREC.
In the first two years (1999-2001), Choudhary realised thesolution to this problem lay in sensitising fishermen. However, talking to themwas an uphill task since the 8,000-strong fishing community here saw thisconservationist as a threat to their livelihood. The VBREC team also facedcontinuous threat from the local criminals who now controlled the riverstretch.
“It took us almost seven years to tell the fishermen that wehad come there for conservation of Gangetic dolphins and not taking away theirlivelihood,” says Dey, a member of the VBREC who has been working withChoudhary for the past 14 years.
Awareness saves the day
In 2000, Choudhary decided to undertake a padyatra to createawareness among fishermen and people living on the banks of the river. “Theprotection of dolphins and the welfare of the people are two sides of the samecoin, and are very much interrelated,” Choudhary says. During the three-daypadyatra, a theatre group performed the half-an-hour play in Angika (a localdialect of historical importance) at different halts.
In 2001, the Patna high court took a suo motu notice of theplight of the sanctuary and directed both the union and Bihar governments toallocate funds to support dolphin conservation.
Struggle far from over
Choudhary says there has never been dearth of at least onething in his 14 years at VBREC: problems. The local criminals who lost theirregular income due to the existence of dolphin sanctuary have now collaboratedwith fishermen in Kahalgaon to raise a cry for denotification of VGDS. Thesefishermen maintain the move will have a positive impact on their livelihood asthey would be able to freely access the river’s resources. “This is the biggestheadache so far. Now, I am redesigning conservation efforts to meet thischallenge,” Choudhary says.
