Sirpur Lake is located on Indore-Dhar Road in

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

. The total area of the lake and its surrounding protected region is 800 acres (around 3.6 square kilometers) and falls under the jurisdiction of the

Indore Municipal Corporation Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

. The wetland has been designated as a Ramsar site under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

on 07-01-2022.

History

Sirpur Lake was created by the

Holkar The Holkar (Pronunciation: �o(ː)ɭkəɾ dynasty was a Maratha clan of Dhangar origin in India. The Holkars were generals under Peshwa Baji Rao I, and later became Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Mara ...

s of

Indore State Indore State, also known as Holkar State, was a kingdom in India. Its rulers belonged to the Holkar dynasty. After 1857, Indore became a 19-gun salute Maratha princely state (a rare high rank) under the British Raj. Indore state w ...

in the early 20th century. After the independence of India and extinction of the royal houses, religious sites started mushrooming up around the lake and over the years it was encroached upon by the people living in its vicinity. Illegal activities like fishing, poaching, cattle grazing, waste dumping, etc., almost destroyed the lake's ecology.

Restoration

The potential of the lake as a significant bird habitat was recognized by the

s of Indore. In early 1980s, Bhalu Mondhe, a renowned photographer and artist of Indore, now a Padmashri awardee, started restoring the lake, first individually and later joined by his friends, most notably, Abhilash Khandekar. Mondhe and Khandekar co-founded an NGO in 1992, The Nature Volunteers, primarily to restore the lake's ecology and develop it as an ideal birding site. As the lake was restored, it became the home to many avian species and started attracting migratory birds, including ruddy shelduck, which migrates from Mongolia and Siberia for wintering at Sirpur. A total of around 130 species are listed in the book, ''The Birds of Sirpur''. Sirpur Biodiversity 1

IBA status

The lake was recognized by BirdLife International as one of the 19 important bird areas (IBAs) of Madhya Pradesh in 2015. Another IBA near Indore is Yashwant Sagar, which was also declared a Ramsar site in August, 2022.

Nature Knowledge Centre (Interpretation Centre)

An interpretation center is being established with an outlay of Rs.2.5 crores for educating the people and the visitors about the ecology of Sirpur lake, nearby wetlands, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and Central India.

Ramsar Recognition

In July, 2022, the Sirpur wetland was declared a Ramsar site.http://www.wiienvis.nic.in/Database/ramsar_wetland_sites_8224.aspx

References

{{Ramsar sites in India