Cruise on the Ganges for 50 Days: Forget Dolphins, Lets Go!

The cover image of this article is from v3.boatrentalskw.com.

Whoa! The Prime Minister of India just launched the world’s longest river cruise, and it looks like it's gonna be one wild ride.

Like, Narendra Modi just launched the luxury voyage from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh that will last 51 days and travel 3,200km to Dhaka in Bangladesh and then Dibrugarh in Assam. It crosses 27 river systems - talk about epic!

This three-deck MV Ganga Vilas has 18 suites for all our fancy needs and is part of this trend for cruise tourism that India's promoting. Modi's totally calling it a “landmark moment” to bring a new age of tourism into India - yeah, I'm sooo down with it.

But some environmentalists say there could be some bad news too...

Controversy Around Cruise Tourism On Ganges River

The Kaithi village which is 30 km away from Varanasi where the cruise boat passes through has a deep water and slower currents which provide an ideal habitat for the endangered Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica). Wildlife officials spotted a pod with calves there in October 2019, putting their numbers at 35-39 dolphins living there.

Plus Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in Bihar is also on the route which houses another species of freshwater dolphin found in South Asia - Platanista minor or the Indus River Dolphin found in India and Pakistan.

But these dolphins already face threats from water pollution, over extraction of water, poaching and now experts fear that adding cruises to this mix could do lasting damage to them. Conservation efforts have increased their numbers since 1990s but Ravindra Kumar Sinha who was leading those efforts says that cruising could undo all these gains - he believes they might even follow China’s Baiji Dolphins who were declared functionally extinct due to increased traffic on Yangtze River back 2006 ughhh noooo :(

Apparently Gangetic Dolphins can almost blind so they use echolocation clicks to navigate through murky waters and find food too but uh-oh motorized boats increase underwater noise pollution which interferes with these echolocation clicks making life really difficult for them :/ A study conducted by Indian Institute For Human Settlements confirmed just that - chronic noise exposure increases stress levels causing fatigue as well as changed feeding behaviour leading them vulnerable to clashing against vessels or getting stuck into propeller blades...all my heart breaks thinking about it :'(

So yeah 100 cruises operate annually currently on National Waterway 1 (Ganges) & 2 (Brahmaputra) & government wants 10x more boats out here soon but environmentalists say development like this would bring big ole adverse effects on riverine eco system :/ A turtle wildlife sanctuary spanning 7 km near Varanasi was denotified recently too so people can promote cruise tourism easier yikes!! And dredging operations done during maintenance cause underwater vibrations & noises making things even harder for poor lil munchkins :(

To make matters worse Kashif Siddiqui marketing director at Antara Cruises says trips are already sold out till 2022& they're following all environmental precautions & I'm like dude don't you know what you're doing? Can we not save one species? Please!!!

Save Gangetic Dolphins Now!

Verma Avli researcher at Manthan Adhyayan Kendra centre said govt opted for "ease of business" instead taking necessary conservation steps & if precautionary measures aren't taken now waterways wouldn't be sustainable long term ya feel me?? We can't promote cruises by endangering homes & existence of gangetic dolphins either :(

So here's what I propose: let's start campaigning #savegangeticdolphinsnow ASAP!! We need donations lol any amount helps& also share stuff like articles or petitions online if you happen PLEASEEE!!! Time is running out fast guys so come on let's do something!! Apart from world peace I think saving these cute little creatures should become our number one priority heart eyes Now go ahead spread da word quickly before its too late coz we need action NOWWWW!! See ya'll around fellow warriors ! Peaceeeeee Out ♥