‘More migratory birds visit Pong Dam wetland in Kangra’

Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Vinay Tandon,who also holds charge of Chief Wildlife Warden,feels there’s a need to check human interference like farming around the area,restrict use of fertilisers and prevent poaching.

“In winter as the water level in the dam reservoir recedes,locals use the fertile land for cultivating Rabi crops. The fertilisers have a leeching effect on the water and soil where migratory birds settle. In absence of any study on the impact of such an activity,there’s a need to check it,” he said.

The dam in the upper catchment area of river Beas and its tributaries is,however,untouched by any industrial pollutant discharges,unlike the neighbouring wetland like Harike on Sutlej in Punjab which is known to collect pollutant contents discharged from upstream industries in Ludhiana and Jalandhar,said Sanjeeva Pandey,Chief Conservator of Forest Faunal Diversity and Protected Area.

He said the problem of water pollution leads to breeding of water hyacinth like witnessed in Harike,which is a distraction for birds to settle down. As a result,the number of birds visited Harike this time was 95,000,while Himachal saw more.

“Absence of pollution is also one reason the wetland has started to attract birds. Not only Harike but Bharatpur in Rajasthan has lost its bird visitors to Himachal,” said Pandey.

After the census conducted in January,it was observed that migratory birds had found place along the interior tributaries coming to the Pong Dam,like in Haripurdhar. Pandey informs that the communities in about five panchayats around the dam and the district administration are being covered under the joint management plan.