Gasping Kulsi gets boost from Meghalaya’s Batha, offers hope for river dolphins

Amingaon, Aug 7: With the river dolphin of Kulsi facing threat to its habitat, due to the drying up of the Kukurmara stretch of the river, a ray of hope has appeared with the Batha river becoming a source of water these days.

Originating in Meghalalya, the water of the Batha mingles with Kulsi at Hatheni-mukh near Kukurmara, after flowing for about 40 kms from Longshai. “With the Kukurmara stretch of the Kulsi river gasping for breath, we have seen a saviour in Batha as huge volume of water from it is gushing into the river for the last two months,” said Tapas Das, who has organised tours of the river for both foreign and domestic tourists for over 20 years.

"Spotting of river dolphins became rare after the Kukurmara stretch of the river practically turned into a beel (lake) after its diversion at Chhaygaon. However, with water flowing from Batha into this stretch, dolphin sighting has become a daily phenomenon these days,” Das added.

As per sources, the Kulsi river’s natural flow was disrupted after an alleged diversion created at Chhaygaon, adversely affecting water-level at the Kukurmara stretch, which is said to be a daily retreat of the dolphins.

It may be mentioned here that this correspondent sighted four river dolphins, including two calves at the convergence spot of Batha and Kulsi, during a boat tour on Sunday. Batha water was seen flowing into the Kulsi, leading to rise in water-level.

“Though the dolphins migrate, sighting of the mammal used to be a daily affair here due to adequate depth and availability of food,” Das further informed. Further, referring to the presence of river dolphin, Debojit Choudhury, a local resident, said that there are several wetlands near the river, which act as a food source to the aquatic mammal.

However, Prof Mrigendra Mohan Goswami, former head of the Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, informed that the Batha has also become shallow at many places.

“The requirement of the hour is a scientific study. Once the river is dredged scientifically, the water flow will further accelerate providing huge relief to the Kukurmara stretch of the Kulsi river,” he said.

Dipankar Das, a manual sand miner, said that the rejuvenation of the Kukurmara stretch of the river is imperative for the survival of not only the river dolphins, but for the lakhs of people who directly or indirectly depend on the river for sustenance.

Sources also informed that in a survey conducted in 2022 by the Wildlife Institute of India under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, 20 Gangetic river dolphins were found along the 60 km stretch of Kulsi river from Kukurmara to Nagarbera.