Kachhua Sanctuary is in

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

district in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Turtles Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

, the Ganges dolphin and other water animals can be found here. Location 8 km from railway station, spread over the 7 km stretch of River Ganges from Rajghat to Ramnagar, Varanasi, U.P., India Distances 28 km from Babatpur (Varanasi) Airport, by road - Lucknow- Varanasi via Sultanpur-285 km, Via Pratapgarh 302, via Ayodhya 323 km. One can contact the Office of Warden, Turtle Wild Life Sanctuary, Sarnath, Varanasi. Best season - (October–June) Attractions: Nature and wildlife How to reach: Can be accessed by boat through the riverfront of Varanasi Turtle Sanctuary was declared on 21 December 1989. In order to check this biological pollution and to make River Ganges free of pollutants,

Ganga Action Plan Pollution of the Ganges, the largest river in India, poses significant threats to human health and the larger environment. The river, which is severely polluted with human waste and industrial contaminants, provides water to about 40% of In ...

(GAP) Phase I, has started in the year 1986 by the Govt. of India, with a turtle breeding project with its breeding centre at Sarnath where turtles (both herbivores and carnivores) are hatched and reared for one to one and half year and then are left into River Ganges to remove the bio-pollutants like partly cremated and dead bodies directly thrown in the river. The eggs of these turtles are specially procured from river Chambal. Around 2000 turtles are released annually in the river. Between 1987 and 2010 around 33,356 turtles were released in the River Ganges by the Kashi Wildlife Division's tortoise breeding centre, Sarnath. To protect these turtles and secure their habitat Kachhua Sanctuary, spreading over seven km. from Rajghat (Malviya Rail Road Bridge) to Ramnagar Fort, was declared Wildlife Protection Zone, under U.P. Govt. Order (No. 4170/04-3-62/89 dated 21-12-1989) under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, after launching the Ganga Action Plan (GAP). The existence of motor boats and

sand mining Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in conc ...

in the protected zone of the sanctuary is prohibited, as turtles lay eggs in the sand of the river banks. The Turtle Sanctuary has its own importance to clean the water. In the Kachhua (Turtle) Sanctuary mainly ''

Nilssonia gangetica The Indian softshell turtle (''Nilssonia gangetica''), or Ganges softshell turtle is a species of softshell turtle found in South Asia in rivers such as the Ganges, Indus and Mahanadi. This vulnerable turtle reaches a carapace length of up ...

'', '' Lissemys punctata'', ''

Chitra indica The Indian narrow-headed softshell turtle (''Chitra indica''), also known as the small-headed softshell turtle or the Indo-Gangetic softshell turtle, is an endangered species of softshell turtle native to waterways and rivers of the Indian subc ...

'' (soft-shelled turtles) which are carnivorous species and hard-shelled herbivorous turtles - '' Geoclemys hamiltonii'', '' Pangshura tentoria'', ''

Batagur dhongoka The three-striped roofed turtle (''Batagur dhongoka'') is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae. The species is endemic to South Asia. Geographic range The three-striped roofed turtle is found in Bangladesh, India (Assam, Bihar, Madhya ...

'' are in abundance. Rohu, bhakur, tengra, prawn, nain, bam etc. fish are also found in the sanctuary. Gangetic dolphin can also be seen especially during rainy season here. Turtles and all other aquatic species are conserved/ protected and efforts are being made to increase their population in this sanctuary. Fishing and any attempt to tamper with the habitat of the animals found in the sanctuary has been declared a cognizable offence in this stretch of the River Ganges, under 1972 Act. The sanctuary will most probably be denotified to make way for the government's ambitious Haldia-Varanasi Inland Waterways Project along the Ganga. The project requires

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

of the river, which can not be done as long as the sanctuary exists. Incidentally, one of the objectives of declaring this area as a sanctuary was to conserve the ''Nilssonia gangetica'', a carnivorous turtle abundant in this region, which helped in scavenging half burnt corpses dumped in this section of the river and eventually aided in cleaning the river and improve water quality.

References

{{coord, 25.280, 83.016, display=title Dolphins Wildlife sanctuaries in Uttar Pradesh Tourist attractions in Varanasi district 1989 establishments in Uttar Pradesh Protected areas established in 1989