National Dolphin Research Centre

• The construction work of the National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) is likely to start in Patna after the monsoon this year.
• The Bihar urban development department has cleared the construction of NDRC’s building about 200 metres from the Ganga.

National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC):

• It is India's and Asia's first National Dolphin Research Centre.
• It will be set up on the banks of the Ganga river in Patna University campus in Patna.
• It is about to set up by 2022.
• Bihar is home to around half of the estimated 3,000 Gangetic dolphins in India.
• It will boost conservation efforts for river dolphins and would provide an opportunity for in-depth research on them.
• This includes dolphin’s changing behaviour, survival skills, food habits, cause of death and other aspects.

Gangetic river dolphin:

• It also called ‘Susu'.
• It was declared National Aquatic Animal of India in 2009.
• The Ganges River Dolphin was officially discovered in 1801.
• It found in Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River Systems and Karnaphuli-Sangu River Systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh
• Ganges River Dolphin is found only in freshwater
• The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, India’s only dolphin sanctuary, is located in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district.
• They are essentially blind.
• It is included in the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 – Schedule I.
• It is ‘Endangered’ in IUCN Redlist.