Unique Gharial Conservation Drive: Rajasthan Releases First Batch of Hatchlings into Chambal River

Chambal Sanctuary to be Developed as a “Gharial Hotspot”

Jaipur, Nov 2025: Rajasthan’s Minister of State for Forest and Environment, Shri Sanjay Sharma, launched a unique initiative on Thursday for the conservation and protection of gharials at the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary in Palighat, Sawai Madhopur district. He released 10 out of 30 five-month-old gharial hatchlings into the Chambal River, their natural habitat. The remaining hatchlings will be released in phases over the next 5–6 days. These young gharials had been protected and raised by the Forest and Environment Department under the Rearing Fast Track–Head Starting Programme after emerging from their eggs.

Minister Sharma said that this unique gharial conservation initiative has been launched under the guidance of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma. Forest officials rescued the hatchlings from the nesting sites along the Chambal River banks, where female gharials lay their eggs. At the time of rescue, each hatchling was about 25 centimetres long. For safety, they were kept in separate enclosures and fed natural food (live fish) to ensure that they retained their hunting instincts. Now that these young gharials have grown to about 75 centimetres, they are being released into their natural environment.

The Minister of State inspected the Chambal Sanctuary, reviewed the gharial conservation efforts, artificial breeding, and scientific rearing techniques, and praised the arrangements. He said, “The Chambal River is the ecological lifeline of this region. The scientific approach being followed in Palighat will also be adopted in Dholpur and other locations to strengthen gharial conservation across the Chambal river system.”

Sharma added that efforts are underway to develop the gharial sanctuary into a new tourism hub by designating Palighat and the Chambal riverbanks as an “Eco-Tourism Zone.” He said the Chambal region is emerging as “the land of gharials and a symbol of ecological balance.”