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The Kanwar Taal or Kabar Taal Lake or Kabartal Wetland located in
Begusarai district Begusarai District is one of the thirty-eight districts of the Indian state of Bihar. The city of Begusarai is its administrative headquarters and is part of the Munger division. History Begulsarai was established in 1870 as part of Munger D ...
of
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of Wes ...
, India, is Asia's largest freshwater
oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are cal ...
. It is approximately six timesKanwar lake: birds' paradise lost https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/kanwar-lake-birds-paradise-lost-44693 the size of the Bharatpur Sanctuary. In November 2020, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change ( MoEFCC) declared it the first
Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of Wes ...
. There are a total of 75 Ramsar Sites in India till 2022. Kanwar jheel, as it is locally called, is located 22 km north-west of Begusarai Town in Manjhaul. It is a residual oxbow lake, formed due to meandering of Burhi Gandak river, a tributary of Ganga, in the geological past. It covers 2,620 hectares of the Indo-Gangetic plains in the northern Bihar State. The Site is one of 18 wetlands within an extensive floodplain complex; it floods during the monsoon season to a depth of 1.5 metres. This absorption of floodwaters is a vital service in Bihar State where 70% of the land is vulnerable to inundation. During the dry season, areas of marshland dry out and are used for agriculture. Significant biodiversity is present, with 165 plant species and 394 animal species recorded, including 221 bird species. The Wetland is an important stopover along the Central Asian Flyway, with 58 migratory waterbirds using it to rest and refuel. It is also a valuable site for fish biodiversity with over 50 species documented. Five critically endangered species inhabit the site, including three vultures – the red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) – and two waterbirds, the sociable lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) and Baer’s pochard (Aythya baeri). Major threats to the Site include
water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightl ...
activities such as drainage, water abstraction, damming and canalization.
Ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
Salim Ali, mentioned about 60
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 b ...
that come all the way from
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the f ...
in winter and recorded around 106 species of resident birds.http://www.ibcn.in/IBA_Book_PDF/16%20(322_341)%20Bihar.pdf Since 2020 the lake has been designated as a protected
Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **
The nearest railway station is Begusarai Station; the nearest bus stop is Jaimanglagadh; and the nearest airport is Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport in
Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India ...
.


Trees

''Mangifera'' ''indica, Annona squamosa, Polyalthia longifolia, Borassus flabellifer, Cocos'' ''nucifera, Phoenix sylvestris, Haplophragma adenophyllum, Bombax ceiba, Ceiba pentandra, Cordia dichotoma, Ehretia laevis, Bauhinia variegata, Cassia fistula, Delonix regia, Peltophorum pterocarpum, Tamarindus indica, Trema oriental, Terminalia arjuna, Diospyros Montana, Croton roxburghii, Trevia nudiflora, Dalbergia sissoo, Leucaena leucocephala, Pongamia glabra, Phoebe lanceolata, Azadirachta indica, Melia azedarach, Swietenia macrophylla, Acacia catechu, Acacia nilotica, Albizia lebbeck, Pithecellobium dulce, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Artocarpus lacucha, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus hispida, Ficus racemosa, Ficus religiosa, Ficus virens, Streblus asper, Moringa oleifera, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Psidium guajava, Syzygium cumini, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, Phyllanthus emblica, Bambusa bambos, Dendrocalamus strictus, Ziziphus mauritiana, Anthocephalus kadamba, Aegle marmelos, Citrus maxima, Madhuca indica, Tectona grandis''


Threats

* Excessive chemicals, like Furadan used to capture birds * Killing of birds * Villagers encroachment of lake area


Birds in the region


Critically endangered

* Oriental white-backed vulture (''Gyps bengalensis'') * Long-billed vulture (''Gyps indicus'')


Endangered

* Greater adjutant (''Leptoptilos dubiu'')


Vulnerable

* Greater spotted eagle (''Aquila clanga'') * Lesser kestrel (''Falco naumanni'') * Sarus crane (''Grus antigone'')


Near threatened

* Indian darter (''Anhinga melanogaster'') *
Painted stork The painted stork (''Mycteria leucocephala'') is a large wader in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinc ...
(''Mycteria leucocephala'') *
Black-bellied tern The black-bellied tern (''Sterna acuticauda'') is a tern found near large rivers in the Indian subcontinent, its range extending from Pakistan, Nepal and India to Myanmar. It has become very scarce in the eastern part of its range and the Intern ...
(''Sterna acuticauda'')


Images

File:Siberian Stonechat at Kanwar Lake.jpg,
Siberian stonechat The Siberian stonechat or Asian stonechat (''Saxicola maurus'') is a recently validated species of the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae). Like the other thrush-like flycatchers, it was often placed in the Turdidae in the past. It bree ...
File:Red-naped Ibis at Kanwar Lake.jpg, Red-naped ibis File:Yellow-throated Sparrow at Kanwar Lake.jpg, Yellow-throated sparrow File:Eurasian Sparrowhawk at Kanwar Lake.jpg,
Eurasian sparrowhawk The Eurasian sparrowhawk (''Accipiter nisus''), also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barr ...


See also

* Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary


References


External links


NewsX Report on KillingNewsX report
{{Ramsar sites in India Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests IUCN Category II Wildlife sanctuaries in Bihar Ramsar sites in India Oxbow lakes Begusarai district 1987 establishments in Bihar Protected areas established in 1987