Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary is located in

Sivalik Hills The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the India ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

city, near Sukhna Lake. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1998. Closed during rainy season. Pass is required to visit which is issued by Forest Department Office, Sec-19B, Chandigarh.

Area and location

The Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected wildlife sanctuary. It is just 2 kilometers from the Sukhna Lake. It has been spread over an area of 26 square kilometres ( 2600 hectares ) of forest land spanning the plains at the foot of the Shivalik Hills. The rain-fed catchment region of the Sukhna Lake partly falls in the area designated for the Wildlife Sanctuary.

History

The history of the Sukhna Lake and the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary is intertwined. The Sukhna Lake was part of the development plans of the city of Chandigarh and was planned and built from 1958, through the sixties and seventies. It was an artificial lake that was fed with rain water from the catchment areas in the Shivalik Hills. Siltation was a big problem for the Sukhna Lake that had to be tackled and it was minimized by many engineering and soil conservation methods. A large scale afforestation program was taken up in the catchment area.

Flora and fauna

Although the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary was formally declared as a protected wildlife sanctuary in March 1998 yet this semi hilly area was already under adequate forest cover. After 1998 more systematic and a large scale afforestation program was taken up in the catchment areas that resulted in a further better forest cover developed in the catchment area. The deep forest area that grew in size over five decades became the home to a large variety of animals and plants. This forest was then designated as a protected sanctuary; Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary has a rich variety of flora and fauna. It is known to have the most number of sambar found in a group or cluster than anywhere else in the country. It is home of a large number of birds and reptiles also which include jungle fowl, various sparrows. The sanctuary contains various variety of trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses and climbers which include Acacia catechu (Khair), Acacia Arabica (Kikar), Dalbergia sisoo (Shisham), Anogeissus latifolia (Chhal), Azadirachta indica (Neem), Butea frondosa (Dhakk).

Gallery

File:Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, view from middle way of Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh, India.jpg, Sanctuary's view from Midway of Sukhna lake ,

File:Sukhna Wildlife Sanctury Chandigarh, India.jpg File:Sukhna Wildlife Sactury, Chandigarh.JPG File:Birds in Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, Chandigarh, India.jpg File:Jungle fowls in Sukhna Wildlife sanctury, Chandigarh, India.JPG File:Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, Chandigarh, India.jpg File:Stages at Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, view from middle way of Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh, India.jpg File:Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, view from bird watch point of Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh, India.jpg File:Jungle fowl, Sukhna Wldlife Sanctuary, Chandigarh, India.JPG File:Inner view of Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary,Chandigarh, India.JPG

Images presenting Inner view of Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary also known as Nature trail reserve forest (as on 8 March 2020 )

File:Nature Trail, lake reserve forest, Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh 01.jpg, Entrance Nature Trail , Lake forest File:Nature Trail, lake reserve forest, Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh 02.jpg, Inner view of Nature Trail, Lake forest File:Nature Trail, lake reserve forest, Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh 03.jpg, Pro nature slogan/ motos written in Nature Trail, Lake forest File:Pro-nature mottos in Nature Trail, lake reserve forest, Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh 04.jpg, Pro Nature motos, Nature Trail File:Pro-nature mottos in Nature Trail, lake reserve forest, Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh 05.jpg, Pro Nature motos in Nature Trail File:Nature Trail, lake reserve forest, Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh 06.jpg, Nature Trail Reserve Forest, Sukhna Lake File:Landscape in Nature Trail, lake reserve forest, Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh 07.jpg, Landscape in Nature Trail reserve forest File:Landscape in Nature Trail, lake reserve forest, Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh 08.jpg, Landscape in and around Nature Trail reserve forest

References

External links

* *{{cite web, url=http://punjabitribuneonline.com/2012/04/%E0%A8%B8%E0%A9%81%E0%A8%96%E0%A8%A8%E0%A8%BE-%E0%A8%9C%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%97%E0%A8%B2%E0%A9%80-%E0%A8%9C%E0%A9%80%E0%A8%B5-%E0%A8%B0%E0%A9%B1%E0%A8%96-%E0%A8%A6%E0%A9%80-%E0%A9%9B%E0%A8%AE%E0%A9%80/, title=ਸੁਖਨਾ ਜੰਗਲੀ ਜੀਵ ਰੱਖ ਦੀ ਜ਼ਮੀਨ ਬਾਰੇ ਉੱਠਿਆ ਵਿਵਾਦ, date=7 April 2012, website=Punjabitribuneonline.com, accessdate=11 October 2017 Wildlife sanctuaries in Chandigarh Protected areas established in 1998 1998 establishments in Chandigarh