Parched Yadgir to have state's largest bird sanctuary

The Bonal lake near the tiny hamlet of Petha Ammapura in the parched Yadgir district is all set to host Karnataka’s largest bird sanctuary.

The Karnataka State Wildlife Board, headed by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, is expected to give its final approval at a meeting scheduled on Thursday in Bengaluru.

Spread across 676.38 acres, the fresh water lake in the northeastern part of Karnataka is much larger than the Ranganathittu bird sanctuary at Srirangapatna, spread across 40 acres on the Cauvery river.

Surprisingly, the Bonal lake in the most backward region of Yadgir was identified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change as one of the key wetlands in the peninsular region within the Central Asian Flyway path of migratory birds and used as a stopover, resting and breeding site for over 75% of species.

With the local panchayat passing a resolution favouring the declaration, the lake was recommended by the Deputy Conservator of Forests and Deputy Commissioner of Yadgir. It has now reached the final stage of being officially declared as ‘Bonal Tank Bird Conservation Reserve’ or ‘Bonal Tank Bird Sanctuary’. Once declared, the sanctuary is expected to boost eco-tourism activities in the region.

The lake — built by Surpur king Raja Pam Naik in the 17th century — is home to close to 10,000 species of native as well as rare migratory bird species all through the year. Drained with rainwater during monsoon, the lake is also supplied with the waters of Krishna river during the other seasons of the year.

Efforts were on since 1995 to declare the water body as a bird conservation reserve under section 36(a) of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, according to sources in Yadgir.

Confirming that a proposal in this regard will be taken up for discussion, a senior official of the Karnataka Forest Department told DH that several studies and surveys have been done in the past. “The lake has a great diversity of variety of local and migratory birds belonging to 13 families. Of these, 24 are native birds, eight transnational migratory and another eight regional migratory birds. Besides, the lake has 24 different fish species and amphibians along with a variety of zoo plankton, aquatic insects and weeds," the official explained.