Are Kulsi dolphins safe? Toll of Asiatic stork 27

Animal lovers, you’re in for a shock; Assam’s dolphin breeding Centre at stake!

OUR BUREAU

GUWAHATI/MIRZA/AZARA, Jan 24: Animal lovers, you are in for a shock! The carcass of a pregnt dolphin was recovered from Kulsi, the breeding centre of the endangered species in Assam, on January 23. What is even more shocking is that the toll of Asiatic stork near Deepor Beel in the city rose to 27 today, from 20 yesterday. This is not all. More Asiatic storks are seen unwell in the area. What has gone wrong with them?

Apart from Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner M Angamuthu, forest personnel, officials of the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Veteriry people rushed to the Deepor Beel today to take stock of the situation there after the report of death of Asiatic Stork in the area.

Talking to newsmen at the site, the Deputy Commissioner said: “Picnics won’t be allowed in Deepor Beel. Some people litter the Ramsar Site in the me of picnic.”

When asked if the death of Asiatic stork at the site was because of the practice of dumping garbage in the Beel, the DC said: “Nothing can be said with certainty now. We need to wait for all reports to come.”

The local people, however, tell reporters a different story. “If dumping of garbage is not done away with in the Ramsar site, more wildlife will die. The pollution level of the Beel has reached its peak,” they said.

Meanwhile, fishermen spotted a dolphin floating dead in Kulsi river on January 22. They informed the Forest Department of the matter, but forest personnel recovered the body on January 23. The dolphin was a pregnt one.

“We doubt that the dolphin died because of shock from the machines that extract sand. The Forest personnel have no time to look after wildlife. They remain busy with sand that is collected from the river bed,” the local people said.

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