A serious water crisis at Keoladeo National Park, exacerbated by caste politics and strife, has put its World Heritage Site status at risk. Barely 10% of the migratory birds that used to flock to Bharatpur are to be seen today. How feasible are the solutions proposed?
Keoladeo National Park (KNP) in Bharatpur (Rajasthan) has only just managed to escape the threat of de-recognition of its World Heritage Site status, on account of severe water shortages. But sadly, the park, which was once visited by huge numbers of rare migratory birds, no longer figures on the birds’ list of most favoured winter destinations. The birds have shifted their nesting, breeding and feeding sites to the lesser-known Keetham lake in Agra, the wetlands of Dholpur, and other areas around 85-90 km from KNP.
Meanwhile, proposals to redeem the park continue to hang in the balance, embroiled in various official and legal disputes.
An erstwhile shooting preserve of Bharatpur royalty, the first conservation efforts in Keoladeo National Park were initiated by the renowned ornithologist Dr Salim Ali, following which the area was deemed a national park in March 1982. In 1985, Bharatpur was elevated to the status of a World Heritage Site. However, in the words of the Director, KNP, Anup K R: “The park will never be the same again. Even as late as the 1990s, the number of birds arriving here easily exceeded 100,000; they belonged to nearly 375 species. The rarest of rare Siberian crane was spotted here in 1991. Today, the figure is barely 8-10% of what it was, thereby reducing the park to a shadow of its former avian glory.”
The 28.73 sq km Keoladeo National Park is located almost in the middle of the Central Asian flyway for migratory birds from Siberia, Central Asia, China, Mongolia and the Himalayan states, offering a rich mosaic of habitats that are an ideal mix of woodland, scrubland, grasslands and wetlands. “Unfortunately, it’s the growing water crisis that is keeping the birds away,” says Anup. In the past, the park used to receive water from the Gambhir river that originates in the Karauli hills south of Bharatpur, and the Banganga emerging from the foothills of the Aravallis in Jaipur. The area formed a natural depression that got flooded after the then ruler of Bharatpur constructed a bund, the Ajan Bund, in 1760, at the confluence of the two rivers. Since then, it has been a haven for migratory birds.
In 1985, however, the Banganga became extinct and the Gambhir was left as the sole source of water for the park.
According to local residents, the problem of water availability started in 2001 when a dam, the Panchna dam, was built on the river Gambhir. With a capacity of 2,100 million cubic feet (MCF), the Panchna was the largest of the 36 dams built upstream of the Gambhir, about 100 km from Bharatpur.
What made the situation worse was construction of a 25 km canal from Panchna dam southwest to Karauli and Sawai Madhopur. This quickly became the bone of contention, as the canal catered to around 30 villages with a population of 15,000-18,000, most of them members of the powerful Meena tribe of Rajasthan. The nearly 15 lakh Gujjar and Jat population, spread over 400 villages downstream, were ignored.
With water from the Panchna dam going to the Meena villages, the park began suffering water shortages in 2002. In 2004, the Meenas, led by a powerful community leader (then a state minister), staged violent protests after then Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje ordered water to be released from Panchna downstream for the Gujjar villages and the park. The Meenas had managed to get away with this “partisan favour”, sources say, because of their presence in the bureaucracy and the state government.
In 2006 there was an uprising by the local Gujjar community that, faced with a severe water crisis, refused to let water run out of Panchna dam into the canal leading to the Meena villages. The stalemate continued; water in the dam was not released and eventually dried up, worsening the water situation in the park.
In 2008, following a spell of good rainfall, the Keoladeo National Park returned to its former glory. But the battle over water between the two communities continued throughout 2009, and as a consequence the park suffered. In September 2010, when threats of de-recognition of World Heritage Site status loomed large over the park, 276 MCF of water was released from Panchna dam for the park. “About 200 MCF of water reached the park from the dam, and of the five blocks that cover 11 sq km of wetland in the park, only D and E blocks got water. One of the two heronries (breeding grounds) in B block could not get water,” Anup explains. According to the director, this amount of water is nominal compared to what the park needs. A lot of water is required also to flush out excess salt from the soil which is detrimental to the growth of healthy vegetation in the park. The UN’s deadline of February 2011 for arrangements to be made for water in the park has somehow been met with the temporary availability of around 276 MCF of water. “But unless some long-term measures are taken to solve the water crisis and ensure availability of at least 550 MCF of water, it may be difficult to save the park from the looming threat of de-recognition,” says Colonel Shyam Singh, Honorary Wildlife Warden.
Fearing that the Keoladeo National Park may lose its heritage tag, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh wrote a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot last November for urgent steps to be taken before the park dried up completely. In his letter he pointed out that availability of water (source, quantum and timing) remained a serious issue in the effective management of Keoladeo National Park, and that water scarcity had adversely affected the park’s wetland characteristics. Angry over the state government’s inaction, Ramesh pointed out in his letter that while a number of solutions had been considered and funds provided by the Planning Commission to the government of Rajasthan, the situation on the ground remained serious. He warned that if things persisted as they were, the park would be listed as a World Heritage Site in Danger, causing a lot of embarrassment to the country. He called for a pragmatic solution to the water crisis.
“This release of water was only a quick, stop-gap measure after the threat of de-recognition of the prestigious World Heritage Site status. There is no guarantee of regular release of water from the dam next year,” says Singh. As a result, most of the early breeders have already migrated elsewhere, he adds.
Indeed, over 200 species of migratory birds have moved to Sur Sarovar lake, or Keetham lake, in Agra. Spread over 713.09 hectares, the lake is fed by water from the Yamuna and boasts winged species like the pelican, black-necked stork, open-billed stork, woolly-necked stork, greylag goose, spoonbill, painted stork, shoveler, pintail, grey heron, bar-headed goose, egret, cormorant and ruddy shelduck, among others, whose flocks were common in Keoladeo.
“Heronries (breeding grounds) of these species have begun coming up in patches of islands bearing trees and vegetation within the lake,” says Bholu Abrar Khan, bird expert and a close associate of Dr Salim Ali. Khan, presently a ranger at Keoladeo National Park, adds that this wetland is no match for the kind of habitats found in Keoladeo, but that the birds have been compelled to nest here simply because there is water.
Another fast-emerging hotspot for migratory birds is the wetlands in Dholpur, around 85 km from Bharatpur, near the Chambal river. Major lakes here include Vishonda, Urmilla Sagar, Talab-e-Shahi and Ramsagar. The nearly 6 km waterbody from Talab-e-Shahi (built during the reign of Shah Jehan) and Ramsagar supports a wide variety of birds including the bronze-winged jacana, pond heron, darter or snake bird, comb duck, coot, reds hank and the Indian sarus crane. “The vegetation and habitat of Talab-e-Shahi and Ramsagar are similar to that of Keoladeo National Park, with a variety of floating weeds which constitute good feeds for the birds,” says Khan. “These wetlands are, however, feeding sites. They are unsuitable for nesting colonies, unlike Keetham lake,” says Islam Khan, a forest guard at Dholpur, who first sighted the arrival of migratory birds to the Dholpur wetlands.
The gorgeous great white pelican and dalmatian pelican, that were once the pride of Keoladeo, are now seen drifting on Keetham lake, as the water here is deep compared to the barely one-foot-deep water in Keoladeo. Similarly, a number of Siberian, Central Asian and Chinese birds -- like the bar-headed goose, pintail, greylag goose, shovler, red-crested pochard, common pochard and coot -- also visit Dholpur and Keetham. “These diving ducks need plenty of water and prefer open waterbodies,” Khan points out.
“We are tracking satellite wetlands in the vicinity of Keoladeo National Park and getting surveys done that may have good prospects for the nesting and feeding of these migratory birds,” Anup K R says. Nearly 27 such wetlands have been identified. He feels, however, that most of these wetlands do not have the same tourist value as Keoladeo, where birds can be sighted from barely 200-300 metres away, and where numerous species are able to co-exist in the rich mosaic of habitats.
Despite this, a permanent solution to the water crisis eludes the park for want of initiatives by the state government.
The most feasible plan so far is a Rs 56 crore project to lay 18 km of pipeline to divert floodwaters from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana through Govardhan drain to the park. Govardhan sub-division in Uttar Pradesh is about 25 km from Bharatpur. “But the project continues to be locked in a number of legal and official disputes, since 2008,” the director points out.
The latest proposal, mooted in December 2010, to resolve the water crisis is recycling around 80 lakh litres of waste water from a sewage treatment plant that has been proposed near Giriraj canal, about 2 km from the park. Land for this has already been acquired. However the proposal has not gone down well with scientists, so it may be confined to an experiment in one block of the park, say sources. Also, it is expected to begin functioning around 31 months after commencement of the plant, which is yet to come up.
The third project -- which involves moving around 125 MCF of water from the Chambal river, at Dholpur, via 84 km of pipeline -- that began in 2000 is almost 90% complete. However, the last stretch of 10 km, passing through the protected Chambal sanctuary, is pending clearance from the National Board of Wildlife.
Even if the park does manage to get water through any of the above means, bird experts say water from pipelines is not as biologically rich as river water. The Gambhir carries vegetation, algae and other flora and fauna, besides around 45 species of fish, down from the hills. The water is a rich source of food for different species of birds that co-exist with each other. Piped water that is deficient in dissolved oxygen does not possess such rich biological properties. “Some amount of induction of biological properties may be possible, but at best it can only be improved up to 25%,” experts say.
(Kalpita Dutta is an independent journalist based in Delhi)
Infochange News & Features, February 2011
Keoladeo National Park (KNP) in Bharatpur (Rajasthan) has only just managed to escape the threat of de-recognition of its World Heritage Site status, on account of severe water shortages. But sadly, the park, which was once visited by huge numbers of rare migratory birds, no longer figures on the birds’ list of most favoured winter destinations. The birds have shifted their nesting, breeding and feeding sites to the lesser-known Keetham lake in Agra, the wetlands of Dholpur, and other areas around 85-90 km from KNP.
Meanwhile, proposals to redeem the park continue to hang in the balance, embroiled in various official and legal disputes.
An erstwhile shooting preserve of Bharatpur royalty, the first conservation efforts in Keoladeo National Park were initiated by the renowned ornithologist Dr Salim Ali, following which the area was deemed a national park in March 1982. In 1985, Bharatpur was elevated to the status of a World Heritage Site. However, in the words of the Director, KNP, Anup K R: “The park will never be the same again. Even as late as the 1990s, the number of birds arriving here easily exceeded 100,000; they belonged to nearly 375 species. The rarest of rare Siberian crane was spotted here in 1991. Today, the figure is barely 8-10% of what it was, thereby reducing the park to a shadow of its former avian glory.”
The 28.73 sq km Keoladeo National Park is located almost in the middle of the Central Asian flyway for migratory birds from Siberia, Central Asia, China, Mongolia and the Himalayan states, offering a rich mosaic of habitats that are an ideal mix of woodland, scrubland, grasslands and wetlands. “Unfortunately, it’s the growing water crisis that is keeping the birds away,” says Anup. In the past, the park used to receive water from the Gambhir river that originates in the Karauli hills south of Bharatpur, and the Banganga emerging from the foothills of the Aravallis in Jaipur. The area formed a natural depression that got flooded after the then ruler of Bharatpur constructed a bund, the Ajan Bund, in 1760, at the confluence of the two rivers. Since then, it has been a haven for migratory birds.
In 1985, however, the Banganga became extinct and the Gambhir was left as the sole source of water for the park.
According to local residents, the problem of water availability started in 2001 when a dam, the Panchna dam, was built on the river Gambhir. With a capacity of 2,100 million cubic feet (MCF), the Panchna was the largest of the 36 dams built upstream of the Gambhir, about 100 km from Bharatpur.
What made the situation worse was construction of a 25 km canal from Panchna dam southwest to Karauli and Sawai Madhopur. This quickly became the bone of contention, as the canal catered to around 30 villages with a population of 15,000-18,000, most of them members of the powerful Meena tribe of Rajasthan. The nearly 15 lakh Gujjar and Jat population, spread over 400 villages downstream, were ignored.
With water from the Panchna dam going to the Meena villages, the park began suffering water shortages in 2002. In 2004, the Meenas, led by a powerful community leader (then a state minister), staged violent protests after then Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje ordered water to be released from Panchna downstream for the Gujjar villages and the park. The Meenas had managed to get away with this “partisan favour”, sources say, because of their presence in the bureaucracy and the state government.
In 2006 there was an uprising by the local Gujjar community that, faced with a severe water crisis, refused to let water run out of Panchna dam into the canal leading to the Meena villages. The stalemate continued; water in the dam was not released and eventually dried up, worsening the water situation in the park.
In 2008, following a spell of good rainfall, the Keoladeo National Park returned to its former glory. But the battle over water between the two communities continued throughout 2009, and as a consequence the park suffered. In September 2010, when threats of de-recognition of World Heritage Site status loomed large over the park, 276 MCF of water was released from Panchna dam for the park. “About 200 MCF of water reached the park from the dam, and of the five blocks that cover 11 sq km of wetland in the park, only D and E blocks got water. One of the two heronries (breeding grounds) in B block could not get water,” Anup explains. According to the director, this amount of water is nominal compared to what the park needs. A lot of water is required also to flush out excess salt from the soil which is detrimental to the growth of healthy vegetation in the park. The UN’s deadline of February 2011 for arrangements to be made for water in the park has somehow been met with the temporary availability of around 276 MCF of water. “But unless some long-term measures are taken to solve the water crisis and ensure availability of at least 550 MCF of water, it may be difficult to save the park from the looming threat of de-recognition,” says Colonel Shyam Singh, Honorary Wildlife Warden.
Fearing that the Keoladeo National Park may lose its heritage tag, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh wrote a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot last November for urgent steps to be taken before the park dried up completely. In his letter he pointed out that availability of water (source, quantum and timing) remained a serious issue in the effective management of Keoladeo National Park, and that water scarcity had adversely affected the park’s wetland characteristics. Angry over the state government’s inaction, Ramesh pointed out in his letter that while a number of solutions had been considered and funds provided by the Planning Commission to the government of Rajasthan, the situation on the ground remained serious. He warned that if things persisted as they were, the park would be listed as a World Heritage Site in Danger, causing a lot of embarrassment to the country. He called for a pragmatic solution to the water crisis.
“This release of water was only a quick, stop-gap measure after the threat of de-recognition of the prestigious World Heritage Site status. There is no guarantee of regular release of water from the dam next year,” says Singh. As a result, most of the early breeders have already migrated elsewhere, he adds.
Indeed, over 200 species of migratory birds have moved to Sur Sarovar lake, or Keetham lake, in Agra. Spread over 713.09 hectares, the lake is fed by water from the Yamuna and boasts winged species like the pelican, black-necked stork, open-billed stork, woolly-necked stork, greylag goose, spoonbill, painted stork, shoveler, pintail, grey heron, bar-headed goose, egret, cormorant and ruddy shelduck, among others, whose flocks were common in Keoladeo.
“Heronries (breeding grounds) of these species have begun coming up in patches of islands bearing trees and vegetation within the lake,” says Bholu Abrar Khan, bird expert and a close associate of Dr Salim Ali. Khan, presently a ranger at Keoladeo National Park, adds that this wetland is no match for the kind of habitats found in Keoladeo, but that the birds have been compelled to nest here simply because there is water.
Another fast-emerging hotspot for migratory birds is the wetlands in Dholpur, around 85 km from Bharatpur, near the Chambal river. Major lakes here include Vishonda, Urmilla Sagar, Talab-e-Shahi and Ramsagar. The nearly 6 km waterbody from Talab-e-Shahi (built during the reign of Shah Jehan) and Ramsagar supports a wide variety of birds including the bronze-winged jacana, pond heron, darter or snake bird, comb duck, coot, reds hank and the Indian sarus crane. “The vegetation and habitat of Talab-e-Shahi and Ramsagar are similar to that of Keoladeo National Park, with a variety of floating weeds which constitute good feeds for the birds,” says Khan. “These wetlands are, however, feeding sites. They are unsuitable for nesting colonies, unlike Keetham lake,” says Islam Khan, a forest guard at Dholpur, who first sighted the arrival of migratory birds to the Dholpur wetlands.
The gorgeous great white pelican and dalmatian pelican, that were once the pride of Keoladeo, are now seen drifting on Keetham lake, as the water here is deep compared to the barely one-foot-deep water in Keoladeo. Similarly, a number of Siberian, Central Asian and Chinese birds -- like the bar-headed goose, pintail, greylag goose, shovler, red-crested pochard, common pochard and coot -- also visit Dholpur and Keetham. “These diving ducks need plenty of water and prefer open waterbodies,” Khan points out.
“We are tracking satellite wetlands in the vicinity of Keoladeo National Park and getting surveys done that may have good prospects for the nesting and feeding of these migratory birds,” Anup K R says. Nearly 27 such wetlands have been identified. He feels, however, that most of these wetlands do not have the same tourist value as Keoladeo, where birds can be sighted from barely 200-300 metres away, and where numerous species are able to co-exist in the rich mosaic of habitats.
Despite this, a permanent solution to the water crisis eludes the park for want of initiatives by the state government.
The most feasible plan so far is a Rs 56 crore project to lay 18 km of pipeline to divert floodwaters from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana through Govardhan drain to the park. Govardhan sub-division in Uttar Pradesh is about 25 km from Bharatpur. “But the project continues to be locked in a number of legal and official disputes, since 2008,” the director points out.
The latest proposal, mooted in December 2010, to resolve the water crisis is recycling around 80 lakh litres of waste water from a sewage treatment plant that has been proposed near Giriraj canal, about 2 km from the park. Land for this has already been acquired. However the proposal has not gone down well with scientists, so it may be confined to an experiment in one block of the park, say sources. Also, it is expected to begin functioning around 31 months after commencement of the plant, which is yet to come up.
The third project -- which involves moving around 125 MCF of water from the Chambal river, at Dholpur, via 84 km of pipeline -- that began in 2000 is almost 90% complete. However, the last stretch of 10 km, passing through the protected Chambal sanctuary, is pending clearance from the National Board of Wildlife.
Even if the park does manage to get water through any of the above means, bird experts say water from pipelines is not as biologically rich as river water. The Gambhir carries vegetation, algae and other flora and fauna, besides around 45 species of fish, down from the hills. The water is a rich source of food for different species of birds that co-exist with each other. Piped water that is deficient in dissolved oxygen does not possess such rich biological properties. “Some amount of induction of biological properties may be possible, but at best it can only be improved up to 25%,” experts say.
(Kalpita Dutta is an independent journalist based in Delhi)
Infochange News & Features, February 2011
