Himachal’s Pong Dam Lake, which is known as migratory birds’ paradise will soon have a rescue and rehabilitation facility for winged guests.
As the migratory birds have started descending on the Pong wetland in Kangra district for their winter sojourn, the state’s Forest Department has proposed to set up a rescue and rehabilitation facility at the site.
The Pong wetland is currently hosting more than 15,000 migratory birds of more than 35 species namely Eurasian Coot, Northern Pintail, Common Teal, Northern Shoveler, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Black-headed Gull, Brown-headed Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Ruddy Shelduck, Gadwal, Eurasian Wigeon, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Pallas's Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Great Cormorant, Osprey, White Wagtail among others.
“After flying tens of thousands of kilometers from their native habitat, lakhs of migratory birds reach Pong wetland every year.
During this long journey, some birds get injured, ill or even get entangled in wires or kite strings. To rescue the injured birds and give them required treatment, we have written to the concerned divisional forest officer to identify a site at Pong Dam for setting up a rescue and rehabilitation facility,” said a senior officer of Himachal Forest Department while talking to The Pioneer.
The officer said that it is for the first time that a rescue and rehabilitation facility will be set up at Pong Dam for the long distant migratory water birds. This facility would also be an undisturbed habitat to feed the birds recovering from illness or injuries.
Anti-poaching staff has already been deputed at the site for the protection of birds. We have also directed the concerned DFO to ensure that cattle grazing is restricted in the area as this could disturb roosting and nesting of migratory birds, the officer added.
Escaping extreme winter chill in their summer homes and braving the high snow-laden peaks of Himalayas, lakhs of migratory birds from Central Asia and Siberian reach Pong Dam every year by October and stay till March.
According to the census exercise conducted in January this year, as many as 1,15,701 birds of 114 species were recorded at the Pong Dam Lake. The figure included 1,04,032 migratory waterfowls of 60 species, 10,377 resident water birds of 30 species and 1,292 birds of 24 other local species.
The Pong Lake had recorded an increase by 68 percent in the number of Bar-Headed Geese as compared to the previous year.
The count of Bar-Headed Geese was 49,496 in 2019-20 as compared to 29,443 in the 2018-19 census exercise conducted in January every year. Other dominant species recorded included Northern Pintail (12,881), Eurasian Coot (10,860), Common Teal (7,334), Common Pochard (3,988), Northern Shoveler (2,818), Great Cormorant (2,121), Eurasian Wigeon (1,350) and Ruddy Shelduck (1,028).
Notably, the Pong Dam, about 100 kms from Dharamshala, is known as Pong Reservoir, Pong Dam Lake and the Maharana Pratap Sagar. It was created in 1975, by building the highest earth fill dam in India on the Beas river in the wetland zone of the Shivalik hills.
The site is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention. The reservoir covers an area of 60,610 acres and the wetland portion is 38,700 acres.