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LODGE AT PONG
www.lodgeatpong.com DHARAMSHALA: The Land of the Dalai Lama and the oldest surviving Royal Katoch dynasty in the world boasts of the Maharana Pratap Sagar popularly known as Pong Dam lake. This is the largest man made wet land of Northern India and has witnessed the arrival of around 130000 migratory birds of about 90 species from Siberia and Central Asia during 2009 winter. The final number of migratory birds is likely to touch record number of 150000 this year as the surface water temperature of the reservoir which varies between 20 degrees C to 40 degrees C is best suited to them in winters.
The 490 sq.km bird sanctuary is situated at 1450 ft. mean sea level falling in the kangra district, Himachal Pradesh, India. It has the International Status of “Ramser wetland Site” recognized by an environmentalist forum in Spain during 2002. Pong Dam Lake is about 115 km from Dharamshala. This huge mass of water has emerged as a major habitat for migratory birds in the country. It is also an attraction for bird watchers.
Pong Dam Lake has total catchments area of 12562 sq. km which falls in Kangra, Mandi and Kullu districts with Himalayas in the background and Shiwalik foothills in fore. About 250000 domestic and migratory birds were sighted at the lake. The birds which were spotted in the lake included flamingos, grey and purple herons, egrets, spoonbills and storks.
The Pong wetland harbors more than 230 species of the birds belonging to about 54 bird families out of 77 families of the birds recorded in India. Avifauna includes the resident birds of jangle fowls, peafowl, Grey partridges, Black Partridges etc. Among the waterfowls main species are Bar headed geese, Pintails, common Pochards, Coots, Grebes, Cormorants, Herons, Storks, Ruddy shellduck, common Teal, Shovellers, Moorhen, Stints, Lapwing, Plovers, Shank, Snipe, Gull, Terns, Kingfishers, Kites, Mallards, Gadwall, Egrets, Marsh Harriers etc.
Pong Dam Lake is considered one of the hotspots of biodiversity in the country and a great attraction for the tourists for fishing, bird watching and boating. Around 15000 tourists visited the site during the winter months from December to March 2009 while it is estimated that around 25000 tourists are expected to visit the site in 2010 .
Pong Dam also has an artificially created island for shelters and breeding for migratory birds in natural habitat for about 36 migratory rare bird species who come to breed in the Pong dam in summers mainly from Southern and Western India to breed in specific conducive conditions while the birds which come during winters come for wintering only as these birds breed in their native land during succeeding summers.
The place to stay at Pong Dam is “The Lodge At Pong” run by the Kangra Group of hotels.
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