Rare sightings

Harike Pattan, a bird sanctuary near Amritsar, is playing host to some special visitors: dolphins and otters

About six months ago, wildlife authorities at Harike Pattan, a designated bird sanctuary some 60 km from Amritsar, came across a strange pugmark in the slush. Soon, there were cheers all around: it was that of the Indian Otter, an endangered animal. The animal was spotted soon after and since then, this obscure Ramsar site has been reporting sightings of the most exotic and exciting varieties. Recently, a team of the World Wide Fund for Nature WWF confirmed they had recorded the presence of at least six fresh water dolphins.

Since then, wildlife authorities claim they have been seeing Testudine turtles, sea gulls, wild boars and even a 8220;new development8221;, as Basanta Raj Kumar, Divisional Forest Officer, called it8212;according to him, on Thursday, some BSF jawans saw crocodiles. This 84 sq km wetland was created in 1953 when a barrage was built over the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers.

For a tourist, it8217;s hard to spot these animals but the birds won8217;t disappoint. Even in July, when most of the migratory birds should have left, the open bill strokes, whistling teels, avoset, kingfisher, spot bill, purpur moorhen, pintal, tufted pochard, gadwall, wiegon, brahmny duck and the cranes had stayed on.

Sukhbir Baath, Forest Range Officer, says, 8220;In February, we get close to 400 varieties of migratory birds from places as far as Siberia, Europe and Australia. Dolphin spotting is rare, because there are only six of them in an 84-km area. Even the WWF team could spot and confirm their presence only on their third consecutive visit.8221;

Gunbir Singh, Chairperson WWF Punjab, says, 8220;It is certain that this wetland offers an ideal ground for a lot of flora and fauna. Our expert team from did confirm the presence of dolphins in December 2007. But the government is indifferent. The sheer apathy towards pollution could endanger the entire natural wealth of the region.8221;

A look at the confluence of the two rivers shows that Singh8217;s concerns aren8217;t with reason. Sutlej, which passes through Ludhiana Punjab8217;s industrial hub before reaching Harike is so polluted that the water is black and stinky.

But for now, the handful of tourists mostly foreigners doesn8217;t seem too perturbed by the sparse infrastructure. An antiquated motor-powered boat, which guzzles enough petrol to make an SUV blush, takes you on the river. And then, the sightings: birds, reptiles and of course, a collection of otters.