Kolkata: Purba Medinipur Matsyajibi Forum (PMMF), of the largest organisations of fishermen in the region, has written to the District Magistrate of East Midnapore pointing out that natural habit of dolphins is being destroyed due to rampant mixing of industrial pollutants into the river in Haldia, siltation of rivers like Hooghly, Rupnarayan, etc.
In its letter, Debasis Shyamal on behalf of PMMF, said that the existence of dolphins in the region is not under threat because of small size fishing boats but the natural habitat is threatened by big vessels. The PMMF wrote to the DM after the Programme Director of West Bengal State NGRBA Programme Management Group (WBSPMG) had written to the DM urging to ensure safe living of Gangetic dolphins.
WBSPMG has, however, mentioned that dolphins were facing existential crisis due to “boat traffic and other fishing practices”. The fishermen’ organisation has submitted a memorandum to the DM negating the allegations and said that fishermen in the regions also want to ensure the natural habitat of dolphins is not damaged.
“The fishers contribute little to boat traffic on the river in question (the stretch of Hooghly within the ambit of district geography is marked by frequent passage of ships and ferry launches, of which more presently). Therefore, we shall assume that the observation in question merely implies the following: Fishing practices, along with habitat destruction and boat traffic, constitute existential threats to Gangetic dolphins,” reads the letter of the fishermen organisation.
They also stated: “Dams have stifled the natural flow of rivers; irrigation channels have drawn water away from the mainstream thereby reducing natural flow and increasing loss due to higher evaporation rates; huge loads of untreated effluents from urban centres and industry, runoffs from agricultural fields have brought astonishingly high loads fertilisers and pesticides, doing untold damage to riverine biodiversity.”