There is more lip service in saving the national aquatic animal of India — Ganga Dolphins — than actual action, believes the “Dolphin Man” R.K. Sinha himself.

“Officials of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, surface every October 5 on World Dolphin Day but that is all,” said vice-chancellor of Nalanda Open University, R.K. Sinha, the most recognised name when it comes to Ganga dolphins.

Sinha and his associates did a monthly monitoring of the water quality of Ganga right from 1993 to 2016 and found himself cut-off as the Union government decided to hand over the job of saving Ganga Dolphins to the Dehradun institute. “I was associated with the institute and it does not have a single expert of Dolphins,” Sinha told The Telegraph.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar announced the Ganga Dolphin Preservation Policy in 2013 and a National Ganga Dolphin Institute in Patna. Almost five years down the line, the institute is yet to take shape even as Patna University agreed to give space for the institute within the campus.

However, the CAG report tabled in the legislative bodies reveal that a lot has to be done to save the endangered species. It has taken note of the authorities’ failure to test the Ganga water — an important factor for the survival of the mammal. “An audit observed that since the inception of the Dolphin sanctuary in 1991, the water quality of the Ganga in the sanctuary area was analyzed only once in 2014. It indicated a high level of heavy metals, and other toxic wastes which pose a serious threat to the survival of the dolphins. The reason for Ganga river pollution has been attributed to use of fertilizers and pesticides by nearby farmers, discharge of raw sewage in the river from urban settlements and dumping of solid waste in the river.

The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sactuary (VGDS) was notified in 1991 for the protection, multiplication and development of Ganga dolphins. The sanctuary extends 60km of the Ganga in Bhagalpur district. In 2014, an estimated 127 dolphins had been sighted in a survey. The CAG report points out that no study on the mortality of the dolphins has been carried out by the department to identify the factors and take remedial measures.

The Ganga dolphins have been killed by the fishermen community for their oil used as bait. The audit report hints towards the lack of any educational or awareness campaign carried out among the fishermen. It points out that many of the gears used by fishermen are dangerous for the dolphins.

It maintained that the fishermen have not been encouraged alternative livelihood and only six Dolphin Mitras have been deployed to ensure protection of the mammals. The audit report points out that dolphins moves and disperses to more than 100km especially during floods. The length of the dolphin sanctuary needed to be extended. But no proposal to this effect has been prepared by the environment and forest department.