Mumbai : The BMC does not care two hoots about marine life. A glaring instance of its disregard is the callous manner in which it disposed of the carcass of a dolphin that had been washed ashore on the Marine Drive.
It buried the carcass at the Deonar dumping ground without carrying out an autopsy to ascertain the cause of death of the dolphin. Reason: the dolphin was emitting a foul smell. The BMC’s callousness has animal rights activists up in arms. Shedding light on the matter, Sunish Subramanian, animal welfare officer at PAWS, said: “Dolphins are a protected species of marine life. The BMC’s attitude is just not acceptable.
One cannot bury the animal without carrying out an autopsy. There could be many reasons for the dolphin’s death such as marine pollution or deep injuries inflicted by a trawler or a ship. It is high time that we look into this matter because we need to protect our wildlife.”
The BMC’s take is that there were no injuries on the dolphin, except for skin rashes which were possibly caused by sunburn. According to Maheda Bhupendra, Joint Overseer in BMC, it was possible that the dolphin could have died at night since they cannot see properly.
The Plant and Animals Welfare Society is insistent that the BMC should not have taken the situation in its hands. They underscored that an autopsy is crucial and the BMC should have informed the forest department. By not doing this, they had violated the rules of Wildlife Protection Act.
