Endangered Red-Crowned Roofed Turtle makes Ganga home again after 3 decades

New Delhi: 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.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil said, 20 such turtles were released in Uttar Pradesh's Haiderpur Wetland On 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.

Believed to be on the brink of extinction in north India, the Red-Crowned Roofed Turtle has been reintroduced into the river through a carefully planned scientific rehabilitation effort, the minister said.

He described it as an important milestone in restoring the ecology of the Ganga river.

Each turtle has been fitted with tracking devices so that their movement patterns and progress in adapting to the environment can be monitored.

Paatil credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his vision that took the shape of the Namami Gange Mission for the turtle reintroduction initiative.