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The foreign guests at Jagatpur lake. (All Pixs by : Raja Bose)


Where bounty of Nature welcome the foreign guests; island of river Ganga turns heaven for tourists

@news5pm

January 6th, 2023

Raja Bose/Our Bureau

What is heaven for a wanderlust – a place during winters where there is abundant natural beauty and chattering migratory birds of different species!

Migratory birds at Jagatpur lake.

Many bird lovers probably do not know about this natural habit for migratory birds recently gifted by Nature for them. Like some other famous bird sanctuaries in Bihar and Jharkhand, Udhwa bird sanctuary or Kawar Jheel bird sanctuary, located at wastelands on the catchment areas of river Ganga, Jagatpur wasteland became a hotspot for tourists mainly due to the arrival of different species of migratory birds onset of winter.

Jagatpur village is located in Naugachiya Sub-division of Bhagalpur district in Bihar, which is some 13 km on the northern side of river Ganga from Bhagalpur and nearly some 220 km east of state capital Patna.

Jagatpur lake is a haven for migratory birds .It is a small perennial water body, which attracts migratory birds from South East Asia , Siberia , Mongolia & Alaska, covering thousands of kilometers , to stay here in this lake till the end of Mid March .

Since the temperatures in these countries dip to below freezing point ,the birds begin their migration journey  , a long and tedious one spanning across from one part of the continent to the other , Jagatpur lake becomes their temporary make sift home where they feed.

The waterbody mainly created by the river Ganga during floods times but throughout the year the lowland contains waterlogging.  Fishes and other food items which are available in abundant, allured the birds to stay at the spot. Besides, since the area is a part of diara land (island of Ganga), human interferences are also less for stay the foreign guest peacefully here.

Gadwal , Northern Shovler , Common coot , Common teal , Comb duck, Pintail duck , Fulvous whistling duck , Lesser whistling teal duck, Common Pochard, Oriental Darter , Red Crested Pochard , Eurasian Moorhen & Host of other birds can be seen such as purple heron , grey heron , osprey , black drongo, white throat kingfisher , red naped ibis , jungle babbler , red vented bulbul , spotted dove , black hooded oriole , golden oriole,  rock pigeon etc could be seen at the spot.

“It’s beyond my imagination ! Last year when I was travelling from Naugachia railway station to Bhagalpur I witnessed flocks of different migratory birds. This time it is amazing, I am surprised to find such huge number of birds there,” said Anita Mishra, a home maker from Delhi. Anita uses to  visit her inlaws at Bhagalpur every year.

Jagatpur lake can be a potential spot to attract tourists from within and outside the country alike , people can come here to enjoy watching different species of migratory birds to study their habitat and surroundings or to simply capture them in their lenses , unfortunately the government is yet to take active steps and try and get to feature Jagatpur lake as one of Bihars potential tourist hub.

Since this lake houses different species of local and migratory birds some that are vulnerable species and some that are on the brink to face extinction. It is to be mentioned here that Mandar Nature Club (MNC), a Bhagalpur based organization fighting for the cause of protection of birds and environment, earlier fought many battles for the cause of conservation of migratory birds. It was the approach by the MNC which compelled to make Udhwa bird sanctuary by the then government of united Bihar.

The main problem alike other places, illegal birds poachers pose potent threat to the migratory birds. The birds are generally of being under the risk of falling prey to bird poachers , who hunt,  and kill and also try and trap these birds to sell them into the black market to potential buyers. “Earlier on set of winter one could easily find many people with birds besides Assam road (NH-31). There was a colony of Mirshikaris (bird poachers) besides the National Highway at Naugachia. But the activists of MNC managed to stop such haphazard bird poaching in the area. Not only that with the active patronage by the members of MNC, the professional poachers had to switch over to other professions.

Arbind Mishra, the convener of MNC and a well reputed bird expert in Bihar contributed lots for paving the way for creating a positive atmosphere in the entire areas for the co-existence of birds with human beings. The MNC created several meetings, arranged special campaigning among village mass to make them aware of the importance of birds preferably the migratory birds. The approach of conservation of Greater Adjutant (Gadhur) in Kadwa diara at Naugachia by MNC is a success story of conservation of birds in India till the date.

“ The government also has to educate the local population and implant strict and stringent measures and policies  to curb this menace of poaching these beautiful birds, ”said  Pratap Kumar a resident of Tetari locality near Jagatpur.   He urged the bodies like MNC to come up with active programmes on the conservation of this lake , ensuring and curtailing  constructions or human settlements upto a certain radius to ensure that there is no infringement, interference or encroachment.


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