Share

Keoladeo Ghana National Park       Keoladeo Ghana National Park or Bharatpur wildlife  sanctuary is situated in eastern Rajasthan, about 176 kms away from Delhi, and 50 km west of Agra, is  one of the most spectacular bird sanctuaries in India. It nesting indigenous water- birds as well as migratory water birds and water side birds. It is also inhabited by sambar, chital, nilgai and boar. More than 300 species of birds are found in this small park of 29 sq. km. of which 11 sq. km. are marshes and the rest scrubland and grassland. Keoladeo, the name derives from an ancient Hindu temple, devoted to Lord Shiva, which stands at the centre of the park. 'Ghana' means dense, referring to the thick forest, which used to cover the area.    The sanctuary is spread over an area of 28.72 sq km with the lake and wetland artificially created by the Maharaja of Bharatpur in the 19th century.    The area was designated as Keoladeo Ghana Sanctuary in 1965 and was upgraded into the Keoladeo National Park in 1981. Over 370 species of birds and 375 species of flowering plants are usually found here.   In earlier times, Bharatpur town used to be flooded regularly every monsoon. In 1760, an earthern dam (Ajan Dam) was constructed, to save the town, from this annual vagary of nature. The depression created by extraction of soil for the dam was cleared and this became the Keoladeo lake. At the beginning of this century, this lake was developed, and was divided into several portions. A system of small dams, dykes, sluice gates, etc., was created to control water level in different sections. This became the hunting preserve of the Bharatpur royalty, and one of the best duck - shooting wetlands in the world. Hunting was prohibited by mid-60s. The area was declared a national park on 10 March 1982, and accepted as a World Heritage Site in December 1985    Migratory birds at Keoladeo   Over 350 species of birds find a refuge in the 29 sq km of shallow lakes and woodland, which makes up the park. A third of them are migrants, many of whom spend their winters in Bharatpur, before returning to their breeding grounds, as far away as Siberia and Central Asia. Migratory birds at Keoladeo include, as large a bird as Dalmatian pelican, which is slightly less than two meters, and as small a bird as Siberian disky leaf warbler, which is the size of a finger. Other migrants include several species of cranes, pelicans, geese, ducks, eagles, hawks, shanks, stints, wagtails, warblers, wheatears, flycatchers, buntings, larks and pipits,  etc.   But of all the migrants, the most sought after is the Siberian Crane or the great white crane, which migrates to this site every year, covering a distance of more than half the globe. These birds, numbering only a few hundred, are on the verge of extinction. It is birds from the western race of the species, that visit Keoladeo,  migrating from the Ob river basin region, in the Aral mountains, in Siberia via Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are only two wintering places, left for this extremely rare species.One is in Feredunkenar in Iran, and the other is Keoladeo Ghana.

The journey to Bharatpur takes them 6,400 kms from their breeding grounds,in Siberia. They arrive in December and stay till early March. Unlike Indian cranes, the Siberian crane is entirely vegetarian. It feeds on underground aquatic roots and tubers in loose flocks of five or six.  The park is open throughout the year, although most visitors choose to come between October and February, when wintering wildfowl assemble in thousands on the lakes. The breeding season is between August and October    Water shortage in the sanctuary  The sanctuary was for years a favourite destination for a variety of rare birds from India and abroad. But the alarming water shortage in the sanctuary, not far from Agra, had already taken its toll on the turnout of migratory birds.   A large part of the water bodies in the sanctuary had turned into dry land. The entire area had been receiving scanty rainfall for the last couple of years but things turned miserable in 2009.  This year too, it did not receive adequate water. Incidentally, Bharatpur is one of the few districts in Rajasthan which received scanty rainfall this year. Looking at the gravity of situation, the government decided to release water from Panchana Dam in Karauli district, around 100 km from the sanctuary. "We have released about 350 mcft (million cubic feet) of water from the dam for the bird sanctuary," said a senior official of the water resource department.

[Information Technology] [ Environment ] [ Agriculture] [Renewable Energy ] [Clean Water ] [ Education ] [ Child Care ] [Health Care ] [ Wild Life ] [ Railways] [ Airways ] [ Weather] [ Contact Us ] [Advertise ] [ About Us ] [ Disclaimer ]