Sur Sarovar, often referred to as Keetham Lake, is a picturesque lake off the Agra-Delhi route (NH 2). The Agra Bear Rescue Facility, a facility for saving Sloth bears dedicated to rehabilitate previously captured "dancing bears," is located next to it. Since 2020, the lake has been recognised as a Ramsar site that is protected. There are over two dozen species of resident and migratory birds living in this bird sanctuary. This charming retreat for the adventure-seeking tourist has a large lake and numerous man-made islands that add to its splendour. The form of Keetham Lake is pentagonal.

Location

This scenic lake, is about 20 km from

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

and 12 km from sikandra is located within the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary. Keetham Lake is linked by Railway track at Keetham Railway Station and was declared as National Bird Sanctuary on 27 March 1991 by U.P. Forest Department. The riverine belt of

River Yamuna The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Ban ...

surrounds the area of Sur-Sarovar. The entire lake is formed in a catchment area of 7.13 km². Keetham Lake is pentagonal in shape. There are artificially created islands for shelter and breeding grounds for the

migratory birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

. The best thing is that is placed on the way of Delhi and tourist can visit during their journey to Agra.

Climate

The climatic conditions of the lake area is typical of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

plains with hot windy

summers Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wi ...

and cold winters. The temperature recorded ranges between 1.5 C to 48 C. The

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

season occurs from July to September.

Water Management

The raw water for Keetham Lake is obtained from Agra Canal originating from Okhla barrage on River

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. At Delhi Agra road, the Agra Canal water is diverted through Jodhpur branch near Anand Engineering College located about 2 km from Keetham. The lake water of Keetham is also used as raw water intake for

Mathura Refinery The Mathura Refinery, owned by Indian Oil Corporation, is the sixth refinery of IndianOil located in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India. The refinery processes low sulphur crude from Bombay High, imported low sulphur crude from Nigeria, and high sulph ...

Water Treatment Plant located in vicinity of Keetham Lake

Development

U.P. Forest Department has created woodlands and developed shallow areas near lake, making it a natural habitat for birds nesting sites. Controversially,

Uttar Pradesh Government The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...

has decided to reduce the Eco-sensitive zone limit around Keetham Lake from 10 kilometres to just 250 metres.

Attractions

More than 106 species of migratory and resident birds are known to have their resting habitats at Sur Sarovar. The entire lake area gets covered by profuse growth of macrophytic vegetation of

water hyacinth ''Pontederia crassipes'' (formerly ''Eichhornia crassipes''), commonly known as common water hyacinth is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive outside its native range.Potamogeton ''Potamogeton'' is a genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater, plants of the family Potamogetonaceae. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may be called pondweed, such as Canadian pondweed (''Elodea canadensis'' ...

sp. during

. The water quality of Keetham lake supports wide range of avifauna during

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

season. The important aquatic birds inhabiting Keetham lake are:

Little Grebes The little grebe (''Tachybaptus ruficollis''), also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''takhus'' "fast" and ''bapto'' "to sink under". The specific ''ruficollis'' is from Latin ...

, Cormorants, Darter,

Grey Heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern ...

, Purple Heron, Paddy Bird, Cattle Egrets, Large Egrets, Smaller Egrets, Little Egrets, Night Heron, Indian Reef Heron, Black necked Stork, white Ibis, Eurasian Spoon Bill, Greying Goose, Bar headed Goose,

Lesser Whistling Teal The lesser whistling duck (''Dendrocygna javanica''), also known as Indian whistling duck or lesser whistling teal, is a species of whistling duck that breeds in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They are nocturnal feeders that during ...

Ruddy Shelduck The ruddy shelduck (''Tadorna ferruginea''), known in India as the Brahminy duck, is a member of the family Anatidae. It is a distinctive waterfowl, in length with a wingspan of . It has orange-brown body plumage with a paler head, while the ...

Northern Pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ra ...

, Common Teal, Indian Spot Billed Duck,

Gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown that ...

Wigeon The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species. Biology There are t ...

Shoveler The shovelers or shovellers are four species of dabbling ducks with long, broad spatula-shaped beaks: * Red shoveler, ''Anas platalea'' * Cape shoveler, ''Anas smithii'' * Australasian shoveler, ''Anas rhynchotis'' * Northern shoveler, ''Anas cl ...

, and

Comb Duck The comb duck or American comb duck (''Sarkidiornis sylvicola''), is an unusual duck, found in tropical wetlands in continental South America south to the Paraguay River region in eastern Paraguay, southeastern Brazil and extreme northeastern Ar ...

. Within the Sur Sarovar, Bird Sanctuary is the

Agra Bear Rescue Facility The Agra Bear Rescue Facility is a Sloth bear rescue facility dedicated to rehabilitating previously enslaved 'dancing bears'. Established in 1999 by Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and others, the facili ...

, which is a

Sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as Vulnerable species, vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss ...

rescue facility dedicated to rehabilitating previously enslaved ' dancing bears'. Established in 1999 by

Wildlife SOS Wildlife SOS (WSOS) is a conservation non-profit organisation in India, established in 1995 with the primary objective of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in distress, and preserving India's natural heritage. It is currently one of the large ...

in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and others, the facility is located in an eight-hectare site. It currently houses over 170 sloth bears as well as other wildlife. Agra Bear Rescue Facility also does advanced research, disease management and provides specialised veterinary care as well as

geriatric care Gerontological nursing is the specialty of nursing pertaining to older adults. Gerontological nurses work in collaboration with older adults, their families, and communities to support healthy aging, maximum functioning, and quality of life. The ...

for sloth bears. The facility is available for tours by small groups of people.

References