Lucknow, Jul 5 (IANS): A dolphin sanctuary will soon come up in the National Chambal Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh.

A proposal in this regard has been sent to the state government by Deputy Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Arushi Mishra of the National Chambal Sanctuary project.

The dolphin sanctuary has been proposed in Sahson of Chambal sanctuary.

Sahson has a considerable presence of dolphins over 20 km. The area has a presence of over 50 to 80 dolphins.

The Gangetic dolphin is the national aquatic animal of the country. “The proposal for the dolphin sanctuary is meant for the conservation of dolphins,” she said.

In the 2012 census of the Gangetic dolphin, 671 of them were found in the rivers in the state, out of which 78 were sighted in the Chambal river.

At present, the Bah range of the Chambal sanctuary has 24 dolphins while the Etawah range has another 147 dolphins, which is a total of 171 dolphins in the Chambal river in the state.

The Chambal Sanctuary is spread over 635 square km in three states, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It has 2,176 ghariyals, 878 crocodiles and several rare species of turtles.

The Centre has identified two sites for the dolphin sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh. The presentations on the two sites, chosen in Varanasi and Chambal, have already been made to the Central government.