Activists protest over blind dolphin’s death

Wildlife department has ordered an inquiry into death of a blind Indus dolphin at Taunsa Barrage in Kot Addu tahsil of district Muzaffargarh, an incident that triggered protests by NGO activists working for wildlife protection.

President of a local NGO working for aqua life protection Allah Bakhsh said the blind Indus dolphin was caught in the nets during fishing by fishers a few days back.

He said that after the poor dolphin died, those who caught the dolphin, threw it back into the waters instead of handing it over to the authorities concerned.

He said that the NGO activists then brought the dead dolphin back and staged the protest.

The protesters complained that fishers and illegal poachers routinely catch fishes from Taunsa by nets.

They further complained that sometimes they imply cruel tactics of releasing electric current into the water that kills whatever aqua life that come in the way.

The young protestors said that aqua life is a beautiful part of nature and the departments concerned must take steps to protect it.

During the protest, they demanded immediate steps to stop recurrence of such incidents in future.

Dera Ghazi Khan Regional Director Wildlife Naveed Tariq said that higher authorities had deputed a deputy director level officer who has completed inquiry into the incident.

He said that the dolphin comes on the surface after every two to three minutes to breathe and this dolphin, after getting caught in the nets, might not be able to do so and died.

Officials said that fisheries department auction contracts worth millions for fish netting from Taunsa Barrage.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2021.