Villagers claim sighting dolphins in Narmada

VADODARA: The forest department has sent a team to Bharuch district after villagers there claimed they have spotted two dolphins in the Narmada river. The river is not known to be a habitat for the aquatic animal. The team will verify the claim and if found true will take further action as per guidelines of the department.

Villagers in Sakkarpur Borbhatha in Ankleshwar taluka have claimed that they had been seeing two dolphins in the river. Earlier, villagers residing near Bhadbhut too had made similar claims.

According to locals, the dolphins were spotted after the river water had dried up and sea water gradually started spreading in the dry river bed.

Local forest officials said that villagers have spotted the two dolphins with one 10-feet long and another approximately 4.5-feet long. The smaller one is possibly a calf, officials said. “If the claims made by villagers are true, it will be for the first time that dolphins have been spotted in the Sakkarpur Borbhatha area,” Raj Patel, superintendent of the forest department in Bharuch district said.

Some locals have started sharing photographs of the dolphins which they claim had been clicked before the dolphins rushed back into the river water.

The river dolphin is a critically endangered species in India and has been included in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby according them the highest degree of protection. It was declared India’s national aquatic animal in October, 2009.