Patna University zoology professor R.K. Sinha, known as the "Dolphin Man" for his four-decade-old battle to save the Gangetic dolphin, has been awarded the Padma Shri.
Sinha is the lone Padma awardee from Bihar in this year's list announced by the Union ministry of home affairs on Monday.
"It is a proud moment to get Padma award for my work in saving dolphins," Sinha, professor and the head of zoology department in the university, told The Telegraph.
Gangetic dolphin is the country's national marine mammal. Listed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as "endangered" and placed in Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Gangetic dolphin or Ganges river dolphin enjoys high level of legal protection both nationally and internationally.
Sinha (62), after completing his matriculation from Munger, shifted to Patna and in 1978, he was taken in as lecturer (assistant professor) at Patna University. Sinha, whose family includes wife and two sons, takes time from regular university works for research. For conservation of dolphins, he first conceived the idea of setting up the National Dolphin Research Centre in Patna.
The centre will be first of its kind in the country and will be situated in Patna. The focus behind setting up the institute is to carry forward research work on river dolphins its habitant, food and conserving the aquatic animals.
Though Sinha has conceived the idea of setting of research institute in 2012, it has not taken shape till date because of land problem.
In the past decades, Sinha's research has found that there has been a decrease in the number of dolphins because of various factors such as the animals getting hit by motorboats. Moreover, the area where water flow is less the number of dolphins is less. Sinha's research further suggests that from Buxar to Patna, the number of dolphins in the river is less but once going down from Munger to the Sultanganj area, the number of dolphins increases.
In Patna, the number of dolphins has come down because of construction activity that is going on along the Ganga banks.
Students and teachers of Patna University have welcomed the Union government's decision to honour Sinha with Padma awards.
