Chandigarh: In what could be one of the biggest conservation highlights of recent times, World Wild Federation (WWF) today officially confirmed spotting six rare Indus freshwater dolphins in the Harike barrage on the Beas and Sutlej river systems in Amritsar district of Punjab on December 21, 2007.

Traditionally, Harike is not known as a dolphin habitat and this rare sighting has delighted conservationists worldwide.

Giving a presentation to Forest and Wild Life Minister Tikshan Sud a WWF team led by Dr. Sandeep Bahera, Dolphin Coordinator at the WWF India under the wetland programme and Asgar Nawab expert on aquatic mammals today said that team travelled to Harike after it was reported that Basanta Rajkumar, Divisional Forest Minister has first sighted the endangered mammals.

He said that team travelled to Harike sanctuary and conducted extensive surveys with the support of forest department staff. After three days of extensive river patrolling, the team could confirm the presence of Dolphin in Beas-Sutlej river system and confirmed spotting atleast six Dolphins.

Harike barrage built downstream on the confluence of rivers Sutlej and Beas near Harike township for storing and providing irrigation and drinking water to parts of Southern Punjab and adjoining Rajasthan resulted in the creation of Harike Lake.

Source : PTI