New Delhi, May 1 -- 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 social media post 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 scientif...