Experts raise red flag over Centre’s Ganga development plan
Say dredging work of the river stretch between Allahabad and Haldia to allow commercial navigation will damage biodiversity
For the Gangetic dolphin, it is particularly disastrous because they navigate using noise. Turtles are slow moving creatures, so there is a high risk of being hit by vessels. BHARAT JHUNJHUNWALA, activist
The frequent plying of ships and vessels in Ganga and dredging to improve navigability will cause “irreparable damage” to biodiversity, including to dolphins and turtles, according to experts at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), an autonomous body under the Union environment ministry.
The Modi government this year approved the ambitious Jal Vikas Marg project that will involve intensive development of the river stretch between Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh and Haldia in West Bengal to allow commercial navigation of large ships in the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system.
The World Bank-backed project, which will cost ~5,369 crore, is expected to be completed by 2023. The 1,620-km waterway will pass through the Kachhua turtle sanctuary in UP’s Varanasi district and Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in Bihar.
Under the National Waterways Act passed in 2016, 106 river stretches have been earmarked for development into cargo-carrying waterways. Nitin Gadkari, minister for road transport and highways, shipping and water resources, has said that the cost of transportation by waterways is a fraction of the cost by railways or road, and that it is a greener mode compared to the other two.
The argument that waterways are a more environmentallyfriendly mode of transport is challenged by environmentalists, and comments from scientists at WII appeared to support the view.
Debadityo Sinha, an environmentalist, said that the calculation is based on only the use of fossil fuel and the associated carbon emissions, not the ecological impacts.
WII scientists attributed the effects on wildlife to the ship wave effect that disturbs habitats, especially for juvenile fish, the noise from ships that can induce behaviour changes, and the possibility of vessel strikes that can cause death.
“For the Gangetic dolphin, it is particularly disastrous because they navigate using noise. Turtles are slow moving creatures, so there is a high risk of being hit by vessels,” said Bharat Jhunjhunwala, an activist who filed a petition in the Allahabad high court against the permission granted allowing vessels to pass through the Kachhua turtle sanctuary.
“Besides the passage of ships/ vessels, frequent or intermittent dredging of the river bed (usually done to improve the navigability of the river) is also harmful as it disrupts not only the benthic and hyporheic flora and fauna but also aquatic animals that depend on riverbed and bank sediments for spawning, shelter, scavenging or other activities crucial for survival,” said experts. Benthic species are those that inhabit the bottom band of a water body while hyporheic species ware found where shallow groundwater and surface water mix.
The Centre is also considering a proposal to move the turtle sanctuary and has asked the WII to review the management of the sanctuary. “We are waiting for the final report of the WII,” said SK Upadhyay, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), UP. “We have three or four options. We are waiting for the scientific study report, then we will make the decision on what is the best option,” he said.