Move to declare Navegaon Lake in Gondia a sanctuary

Nagpur: In another green initiative, the state government has decided to declare Navegaon Bandh Lake, spread in over 1,227.66 hectares, a bird sanctuary. Wildlife lovers and NGOs, however, want it to be notified as a conservation reserve fearing opposition from locals.
“Preliminary talks have started to identify how the proposal can be worked out with the consent of locals having traditional fishing rights on this lake.A meeting with officials and NGOs was held to discuss the proposal,” said P Kalyan Kumar, CCF, Nagpur circle.
“The sanctuary plan was raised by members in the State Wildlife Board meeting held on August 7, based on which PCCF (wildlife) has asked us to submit a proposal,” Kumar added.
The lake in Gondia district is presently with irrigation department and there are nistar rights of villagers over fishing and grazing. Opinions are divided over declaring the lake a sanctuary and most of them want it to be conservation reserve which will help save the degrading lake without harming rights of the locals.
“The lake lies on the south-west boundary of Navegaon National Park and supports terrestrial as well as aquatic flora and fauna with a strong ecotourism potential. There is record of 312 bird species from 57 different families including 247 residents and 78 winter migrants. Protection to the lake will also help retain lost sarus crane habitat,” says Rupesh Nimbarte, president, Hirwal Bahuuddeshiya Sanstha, Gondia.
Former DFO with Navegaon-Nagzira Ashok Khune too pitched for conservation reserve. “At least 400-500 families from 10-12 surrounding villages are dependent on fishing. People have nistar rights since 1954 and it would be difficult to strip them of these rights by declaring the lake a sanctuary,” said Khune.
“Locals have lost trust in government agencies as in the past crores of rupees were spent on rock garden, treatment centre, conference hall and other construction activities. All these projects have now turned white elephants. Instead of solving core issues like improving bird habitat, removing encroachments and lantana, user agencies focused more on construction. Hence, locals are confused whether government is serious about any proposal,” said Sawan Bahekar, former honorary wildlife warden.
Nimbarte said the proposal was first pushed by then Gondia-Bhandara MP Praful Patel in 2012. The Navegaon Gram Panchayat in 2014 had also approved the conservation reserve proposal subject to conditions that people’s rights and dependence on the water body will not be affected and they would be given preference for any ecotourism facilities. Since then, the proposal is hanging fire.
Now again, both BJP MP from Gondia-Bhandara Sunil Mendhe and Arjuni Morgaon MLA Manohar Chandrikapure have urged forest minister Sanjay Rathod to declare the lake either conservation reserve or bird sanctuary. They said, “Of the all bird species in Maharashtra, 60% are found in Navegaon. The lake also falls in the buffer zone of NNTR and it will go a long way to boost ecotourism in the area.”
MLA Chandrikapure said, “The lake is a notified wetland with rich biodiversity. The state, after consultations with local communities, can declare any area owned by the government, particularly areas adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries and those areas which link one protected area with another, as a conservation reserve for protecting landscapes, flora and fauna and their habitat.”
Why Wetland Holds Key
* 300-year-old Navegaon Lake, built by Kolu Patil Kohli, is oldest man-made water body having great historical importance in region
* Picturesque lake set amid lush green hills is home to almost 60% of bird species found in entire Maharashtra
* It is important conservation unit in Central India in general and Vidarbha in particular. It acts as a ‘green-lung’ for adjoining human settlements
* Lake hosts 312 bird species (247 residents & 78 migrants); 51 species of fishes; 13 species of amphibians; 46 species of reptiles; 14 species of lizards & 29 species of snakes
* This lake & adjoining national park serves as a living repository of various economical, medicinal, aromatic, ornamental plant species