Himachal: Over 1.30 lakhs migratory birds flocked to Pong Dam lake

New Delhi: Maharana Pratap sagar popularly  known as Pong  Dam lake , The largest man made wet land of Northern India has witnessed  the   arrival of  around 1.30 lakhs   migratory birds of  about 90 species from Siberia and Central Asia during  this winter . The final number of migratory birds is likely to touch record number of  1.5 lakh   this year as the  surface water temperature of the reservoir which varies  between 20⁰ C to 40⁰ c  is  best suited to them in winters.

The   307  km long  bird sanctuary – an island in the lake situated at 1450 ft. mean sea level falling in Nurpur and Dehra Forest divisions of kangra district in Himachal gained the distinction of International Status called “Ramser Site” in an international forum of environmentalists  in Spain during 2002

Pond Dam Lake   is about 115  km from district headquarter town, Dharamshala,     has emerged as a major habitat for migratory birds in the country  which is  made of Beas River.. This huge mass of water which  varies from 180 sq. km. to 400 sq. km  has emerged as a major habitat for migratory birds in the country as also an attraction for bird watchers.

Pond Dam Lake   has  total catchments area of 12562 sq. km which falls  in Kangra, Mandi and Kullu districts with Himalayas in the back ground and Shiwalik foothills in fore

About   2.5  lakh domestic and migratory birds were sighted at the lake during this winter  . The  birds which were spotted in the lake included flamingos, grey and purple herons, egrets, spoonbills and storks.

The Pong wetland harbors more than 230 species of the birds belonging to about 54 bird families out of 77 families of the birds recorded in India .Avifauna includes the resident birds of jangle fowls, peafowl, Grey partridges, Black Partridges etc. Among the waterfowls main species are Bar headed geese, Pintails, common pochards, coots, Grebes, Cormorants, Herons, Storks, Ruddy shellduck, common Teal, Shovellers, Moorhen, Stints, Lapwing, Plovers, Shank, Snipe, Gull, Terns, Kingfishers, Kites, Mallards, Gadwall, Egrets, Marsh Harriers etc.

The security is further  tightened in and around pong dam lake during the  stay  of migratory birds . While the anti poachers are pressed into service and the staff remains extra vigilant and night raids are conducted .  one Van Thana in Nagrota Suriyan , HQ of Pong headed by Range Forest Officer, has been exclusively set up to deal with the poaching cases in the lake

Pong Dam Lake  is considered one of the hotspots of biodiversity in the country and a great attraction for the tourists for fishing, bird watching and boating. Around 15000 tourist visited the site during the winters months from December to march last year while it is estimated that around 25000 tourist are expected to visit the site .

Director Tourism Dr Arun Sharma told that with  a view to attract the tourists to the  this offbeat & unexplored destinations, the Department of Tourism & Civil Aviation,  with the financial assistance from Asian Development Bank (ADB) would spent 2.31$million ( Rs10.39 crore) in Pong Dam Lake   in phase-I , under Infrastructure Development Investment Programme for Tourism (IDIPT). He told that various facilities would be created for tourists under this project and community based tourism activities would also be developed so that local people would also

benifit from tourism.  He told that under the plan   bird watching towers  in Karu island , Landscaping , Information centre at Pong dam site , Jetty development, Ranser and Karu island ,  4km Treks around the island ,  Camping facilities etc will be established to attract the tourist round the year . The project would covers, Eco, rural & cultural heritage tourism promotion and related infrastructure development.

He told that   department has artificially  created islands for shelters and breedings for migratory birds in natural habitat  for about 36 migratory rare  bird species who come to breed in the pong dam in summers mainly from south Indian and western india to breed in specific conducive conditions  while the birds which  come during winters  come for wintering only as  these birds breed in their native land during succeeding summers.

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Posted by NVO News on February 9, 2011. Filed under Latest, Op-Ed, Top Story, Wild Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry