KARACHI – A week after the death of six Indus blind dolphins in the protected ‘Indus Dolphin Reserve’, the Sindh chief minister has finally taken notice of the incident and asked the departments concerned on Sunday to present a detailed report on the issue. Between January 24 and 28, six dolphins were reported dead in the Indus River between Guddu and Sukkur barrages in the Sukkur region.
Nature conservationists were of the view that chemical pollution or the poisons used by fisherfolk for hunting could be the possible reason behind the dolphins’ death. The local as well as the international print and electronic media highlighted the issue and a team of French experts also arrived in the province to investigate the death of marine mammals but the Sindh government remained in a state of slumber.
However, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has apparently woken up and an official statement issued by the Chief Minister’s House stated that Shah is shocked to find out that the dolphins have died. Shah has asked the Sindh Wildlife and Fisheries departments to send him a detailed report on why the dolphins died and directed both the departments and the local administration to take precautionary measures for protecting the endangered dolphin species.
Keeping in view that chemical pollution or fisherfolk using poison in the river could have been the probably causes behind the dolphins’ death, it would have been prudent to take action to stop these practices.
