Deepor Beel - The Only Ramsar Site In Assam
The vast wetlands of Deepor Beel, which are home to migratory birds and are a favourite for the Asiatic wild elephant, are located just a few kilometers from Guwahati. The Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary is a perennial freshwater lake located outside of Guwahati, Assam, in the Kamrup district of the lower Brahmaputra valley. It is the sole Ramsar site in the state which is an international agreement on the preservation of wetlands, the Ramsar Convention, was signed in 1971 and is named for Ramsar, an Iranian city. The Deepor Beel is well-known among local tourists and serves as Guwahati's sole central storm-water storage basin.
Residents and migrating birds call the beel, or lake, their home. It is also a good place to see herds of Asiatic wild elephants, which are drawn to the lake's aquatic flora. For their favorite foods, they travel to the beel from the four elephant pathways of the area in the Rani-Garbhanga Reserve Forests in Kamrup East. Winter is when the most birds visit Deepor Beel, a crucial staging area on migratory routes. The Deepor wetlands are home to over 200 species, including 70 migratory birds.
Lesser and Greater Adjutant Storks (Leptoptilos javanicus and dubius), Spot-billed Pelicans (Pelicanus philippensis), and Baer's Pochard (Aythya baeri) are a few of the species one can witness. Around 50 different fish species can be found in the lake, some of which are harvested by the villagers. There are also nymphaea nuts and flowers, ornamental fish, medicinal plants, and the giant water lily Euryale Ferox, or makhana, which bears seeds with a high resale value.
The lake, a Ramsar site, is additionally listed on several protected lists. Deepor Beel was designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) site by Birdlife International, and it is also covered by the Guwahati Water Bodies (Preservation and Conservation) Act of 2008. Despite this, untreated sewage from Guwahati city enters Deepor Beel through the Bharalu and Basistha-Bahini rivers. The Khandajan rivulet, which joins the Brahmaputra, is the lake's outflow.
In addition to the aforementioned issues, the lake is also being encroached upon by industrial development, suffers from heavy siltation from the deforested hills surrounding it, accumulated city waste, unrestricted fishing, and has been invaded by aquatic weeds like the water hyacinth, or Eichhornia crassipes.
It is also being harmed by the building of railway lines. Due to the rail tracks passing through them, the lines' presence has already impeded the movement of the elephants in their designated pathways. Being struck by a train has killed or severely injured several elephants. In addition, the Guwahati Smart City Projects' projected construction of a watch tower and a café with a picnic area may exacerbate the beel's already severe difficulties.
Developmental Activities:
Plans are in the works to realign the railway lines away from the beel, which is a crucial component of the elephant corridors, and to move the garbage dumping away from the beel. Additionally, a large number of conservation-minded organizations are attempting to prevent Deepor Beel from further deteriorating because it is both a significant place for biodiversity and a source of livelihood for the residents.
Additional Information:
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October to March is the ideal time to visit.
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Taxis and buses are readily available to take you there, the distance from Guwahati Railway Station to the sanctuary is roughly 12 kilometers.
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By air: Borjar, which is 20 kilometers from Guwahati, is home to the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport. From Guwahati, there are helicopter flights available to Shillong, Tura, Naharlagun, and Tawang. Regular flights are available to other Assamese cities including Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Tezpur, and Dibrugarh. Several airlines connect Guwahati with the major cities in India.
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By rail: Guwahati and the rest of the nation are connected by the North Eastern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. The headquarters of the zone are in Guwahati Junction.
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By car: Guwahati is connected to other parts of the northeast and the nation via the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT), which is a bus terminal on the outskirts of the city. The two main highways leading to Guwahati are National Highways 31 and 37. Additionally, one can use private transportation services.