Turtle sanctuary to come up in Allahabad

New Delhi, Oct 4: To protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of the river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures, development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam have been approved under the Namami Gange programme. The project at an estimated cost of Rs 1.34 crore would include development of River Biodiversity Park at the Sangam, establishment of a Turtle Rearing Centre including permanent nursery at Triveni Pushp and makeshift annual hatcheries and awareness about the importance of Ganga and imperativeness of its conservation has been approved, a statement said. This project would provide much needed platform to make the visitors aware of their place in the ecosystem, their roles and responsibilities, improve their understanding of the complexity of co-existence with the environment and help generate awareness for reducing the impact of human activities on critical natural resources. The task of dissipating knowledge about the river Ganga would be taken up ardently in this project, which was 100 percent centrally funded. The sustenance of more than 2,000 aquatic species, including threatened gharials, dolphins and turtles in the river Ganga exemplifies the rich biodiversity of this lifeline to over 40 per cent of the country’s population. UNI