Red-crowned roofed turtle returns to Ganga after 3 decades

The critically endangered Red-Crowned Roofed Turtle has been reintroduced in the Ganga river as part of the government's flagship programme of cleaning the river and enhancing its biodiversity.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

In a post on X Wednesday, Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil said, 20 such turtles were released in Uttar Pradesh’s Haiderpur Wetland April 26.

It is a UNESCO Ramsar site near the Bijnor Ganga Barrage within the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary. This human-made wetland was formed in 1984 with the Madhya Ganga Barrage construction on the river’s floodplain.

He described it as an important milestone in restoring the ecology of the Ganga river. According to his ministry, there has been no confirmed report of adult Red-Crowned Roofed turtle sighting in the main channel of the Ganga in the past 30 years.