Panchana Dam water needed to save Keoladeo: SC panel report

The only viable way to save the Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Bharatpur, now a ghost of its former self, is through the release of water from a dam about 90 km away, the Central Empowered Committee set up by the Supreme Court has said in a report.

The release of water to the Park from the Panchana dam on the Ghambir river, presently the main source of water for Bharatpur’s fragile wetlands, has been held up after protests by farmers and politicians, who say it is required for irrigation. But the committee, dealing with an application filed by the Tourism and Wildlife Society of India, said unless the ‘‘decision for the release of adequate water through the Panchana Dam is not immediately taken, it will be tantamount to writing an obituary for the Park’’.

The 28.72 sq km sanctuary, home to about 370 species of birds, has been for 11 years sustained by an average of 300 million cubic feet of water from the Gambhir through a network of canals, says the report. It also notes that 550 mcft of water or at least 350 mcft is required from the final release point, the Ajan Bund located half-a-km south of the Park. But, said the report, ever since the Panchana dam has come up, this flow has become a trickle.