Threats to the Kulsi river in Assam

Indiscriminate and illegal mechanised sand mining, unplanned industrial growth and construction activities have destroyed the Kulsi river, the unique habitat of the endangered Ganges river dolphin in Kamrup district, Assam; the water depth has fallen below one metre in 35 locations and in 9 of these the river is virtually dry. A report brought out by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, titled “Status of Ganges River Dolphins in Kulsi River, Assam 2021” states: “Based on long-term observations in Kulsi and elsewhere, it is now understood that dolphins prefer habitat where depth is greater than 2 m. During our recent survey, where observations were taken every 100 m and averaged over 300 m, we observed 35 locations, each with 300 metre segments of Kulsi River, where average water depth was less than or equal to one metre. But in unregulated and illegal mechanised mining, much more sand can be extracted in less than an hour using a suction pump due to which sand layers of the river have vanished in just a couple of years.” A sand supplier in Guwahati, who did not want to be named, explained that mechanised mining fuelled the demand for Kulsi river sand as it was not mixed with silt or tiny stone particles and did not require sieving, which saved time and labour costs in construction work. Standing on the hard dry exposed riverbed at Borpit, Manoj Kumar Das told Frontline on January 27: “This spot about 6 km upstream of the river from Kukurmara point where we are standing now had sufficient flowing water above sand layers, and every winter on Republic Day I used to bathe on this stretch of the river with my friends till five years ago.” Over the past 11 years, Manoj Kumar Das, with the guidance of Wakid, has built a network of volunteers and activists all long the Kulsi for the conservation of dolphins.