Beyond the City: How flamingos turned a forgotten Pune village into a thriving tourism hub

For years, most people outside the region knew Bhigwan as the birding destination. Kumbhargaon, just next to it, largely stayed under the radar. “Attention towards Kumbhargaon and a small start in tourism activity began around 2004–05,” says Nitin Dole, a Kumbhargaon resident whose 35 acres of ancestral farmland were acquired for the Ujani Dam project. “Our identity as a village changed after that.”

From fishermen to guides

The shift did not happen overnight. Local fishermen who already knew the backwaters began taking out a school teacher who was also a passionate photographer. Slowly, word spread. Wildlife enthusiasts and conservation-minded visitors started arriving.

“While fishing, we used to take our school teacher, who was a passionate photographer, out on the boats,” recalls Sachin Bhoi, a local guide and safari operator. “Several of us gradually picked up technical knowledge about bird species, photography, and guiding skills from those early trips.”

By 2010, Dole had started a safari guide service and homestays – among the first two in the village. The model was simple: local boatmen would navigate tourists safely through the backwaters, getting close enough for spectacular sightings and photography without disturbing the birds. What began as two homestays has now grown to over 50 in the village.

Villagers built Facebook pages and an active digital presence, which started drawing nature lovers from across the country – Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and even from abroad – the United States and Dubai.

The ‘Bharatpur of Maharashtra’

Today, Kumbhargaon and the surrounding Bhigwan area are fondly called the ‘Bharatpur of Maharashtra’, a reference to the famous Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, one of India’s most celebrated bird sanctuaries. While Bharatpur boasts over 350 bird species, the Bhigwan-Kumbhargaon wetlands are home to over 200 species, with around 50 rare ones making brief appearances each season.

The flamingo is the star, but it is far from the only attraction. Several species of plovers arrive here – resident waders alongside winter migrants travelling all the way from Siberia and the Arctic. This season, spot-billed pelicans were sighted for the first time after the last sighting in 2007, generating excitement among birders and wildlife photographers.

Boat rides, grassland safaris

Grassland safaris have added another dimension to the experience. Local operators now offer comprehensive packages combining boat rides on the backwaters, grassland safaris, and comfortable homestays.

The economic transformation has been remarkable. “The village today has around 15 professional wildlife photographers, 35 trained guides, and women who have found employment in homestay operations and food preparation. A skilled guide here earns around Rs 4 to 5 lakh per year. Over 70 per cent of the village economy is now dependent on flamingo-led tourism,” Dole said.

“If it weren’t for the flamingos, this village would have had very little to fall back on after losing our farmlands and after fishing declined. Tourism built new livelihoods for us,” Dole added.

A season without pink

But this year, Kumbhargaon faced something it had not prepared for – the flamingos did not come in huge numbers as usual.

“We only sighted around 350 to 400 greater flamingos this entire season, from November to May. Even those did not settle. They came in small flocks of around 30 birds and flew back within two or three days,” says Dole.

“Tourism has been severely affected. Footfall has been very low, and it has hit people running boat services, hotels, homestays, and safaris,” he says.

Boats operated by local fishermen, which are used to ferry tourists, lying idle at the shore. This year, migratory flamingos have arrived in significantly lower numbers at the Ujani Dam near Pune, thereby affecting tourist footfall. (Express Photo/Pavan Khengre,)

The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), which has been conducting flamingo count surveys at Kumbhargaon and the Bhigwan area since 2021, has recorded an average of over 1,000 bird visits annually, with counts touching 2,000. But the numbers fell sharply from June 2025 to April 2026. From January 2026 onwards, only small groups of 20 to 30 flamingos appeared, and none stayed.

The reason, according to forest officials, lies in last year’s monsoon. Bhagyashree Thakur, Range Forest Officer at Indapur, says heavy rainfall raised the water level in the Ujani dam significantly. “Flamingos need shallow wetland conditions. In high water levels, they don’t find enough algae to feed on, so they likely moved elsewhere,” she says.

“The count has reduced this year, but we don’t have exact figures,” Thakur adds.

For Bhoi, who built his entire livelihood around the annual migration, the anxiety is understandable. “If flamingos and other bird species stop visiting, it could devastate households here. Our homes depend on this,” he says.

Flock of Siberian flamingos captured at Kumbhargaon village near Pune in April 2024. Express Photo By Pavan Khengre (File images)