Due to the large human presence in and around the lake, birds have stopped coming here, an area that is their traditional habitat and breeding ground.
Last year, the Baandganga Irrigation System water users group had been handed the lake, on a fishing contract for Rs 4 million for a period of 10 years. After the contract, the contractor has only concentrated on rearing fish in the lake, and this is severely deteriorating the indigenous birds´ habitat. According to bird expert Hem Sagar Baral, the bird numbers are decreasing because the fish eat the bird´s food, thereby reducing the birds´ feed-supply considerably.
Jagdishpur lake is included in the World Wetland Area list and every winter birds from Siberia migrate there. According to the Nepal Bird Conservation Trust, the lake is home to 150 bird species.
“It was a wrong decision to allow commercial fishing in the lake; it is completely destroying the birds´ habitat,” says Baral.
The lake, with an area of 157 hectares, is in Niglihawa VDS- 1 and 4 and is situated 11 km north of Taulihawa.
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