Dolphins are dying in Assam

GUWAHATI: In Assam's Duijan town, dark silhouettes cruising silently in deep muddy waters off the banks of the Brahmaputra river is a memory that never dies out.

But the dolphins, or 'xihu' as locals call it, are dying.

In Tinsukia district, of which Duijan is a part, - around 600 km from here - the xihus are battling for survival against enormous river pollution and mounting threats from humans.

Riverine communities in the floodplains are familiar with the xihus. Many have watched them at play or spotted them keeping up with speeding motorboats, diving and leaping near the front or bow.

The xihus surface intermittently from the deep waters to breathe before quickly disappearing again.

But over the years things have changed. Their sightings have become rare. The fishermen who once enjoyed their presence now kill them for use as fish-bait. Dolphins are poached to extract fat oil, which when released in the river, attracts fish in large numbers.

Conservationists say there are just about 268 xihus fighting a losing battle for survival in Assam's vast river networks.

"Until recently there were four species of river dolphins in the world, including the Gangetic dolphins of South Asia and the Baiji of China; the Baiji is now extinct," said Sanjoy Hazarika of the NGO Centre for North-East Studies (C-NES) in Delhi.

C-NES has recently made a documentary, 'Children of the river - the Xihus of Assam', which was unveiled last week at the India International Centre in the capital to press for urgent action for conservation of dolphins.

The film, which is currently in English, will be translated into the Assamese language for another screening in Assam scheduled late in November, he added.

The NGO has initiated an awareness campaign among the fishermen community to educate them on the importance of conservation and also popularise an alternative method of fish extracts that could be used as fish-bait to reduce the poaching pressure.

Dolphins use sound to "see". They use sonar or echolocation - making a sound and listening to it bounce off objects - for finding food and navigating without bumping into things.

Small gill nets being used by fishermen do not register the dolphin's sonar system, resulting in accidental traps that suffocate them to death.

The use of gill nets, poaching for oil and huge chemical wastes that are being dumped into the river by Assam's refineries have threatened their survival.

The chemicals used by tea gardens for insecticides and as manure that find their way into the river have added to the problem.

"The film, shot on four locations on the Brahmaputra, looks at how humans and dolphins have co-existed, but also how that relationship is breaking down in the face of economic pressures and poverty," Maulee Senapati, who directed the film, told IANS on phone from Guwahati.

"The xihus are among the most beloved and most vulnerable inhabitants of our rivers, less known than their popular sea cousins but equally friendly," said Hazarika.

The film is funded by the Ford Foundation in New Delhi as part of a larger project of promoting conservation and saving the Gangetic dolphins in the Brahmaputra.

"Four fishermen from Dhubri district had travelled to Patna Science College for training on the alternative oil prepared from fish viscera, which is used as bait to catch the naariah fish (Clupisoma garua)," said Hazarika who is implementing the project.

"Not only that, they have also successfully tested the new method at Dhubri ghat upon return," he added.

"The project aims to form local groups in the conservation process, provide an alternative to the poaching of endangered species and encourage green tourism, involving village communities," he said.

Gangetic river dolphins are critically endangered and protected under schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. These freshwater mammals are also found in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Some dolphins make ear-piercing sounds while hunting for food, which could knock out any small fish within range. The dolphins then gobble up the sound-stunned prey.

"Children of the River - The Xihus of Assam" has been produced and scripted by Hazarika; Sher Chowdhury, a National Award winner, has given the music; and Rajiv Mehrotra has lent his voice.