Maharana Pratap Sagar - Protection Measures

Protection Measures

The following protection measures have enabled preservation of the reservoir ecosystem.

• Declaring the entire reservoir as a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1986 by the Himachal Pradesh government has mostly eliminated poaching. Nearly 40 village forest development committees are functioning to prevent poaching of birds, in addition to nine checkposts. Two mobile checkposts monitor suspicious activities in the sanctuary areas, in coordination with the established check posts. This vigilance programme has established Nagrota Surian, Guglara, Tairess, Jambal Bassi, Nandpur Bhatoli and Dehra as dwelling places for the migratory birds.

• To check siltation of the reservoir and to provide bird nesting places, plantation of the peripheral area of the lake has been undertaken in a large way.
• The Protected Area Management Plan envisages boundary protection, habitat improvement, tourism and regulation, roads and staff quarters and so forth.
• One of the islands in the reservoir has been named Ramsar (after the Ramsar Convention) and developed for nature conservation education, complete with a rest house and boating facility.
• Organised reservoir fishing with full support of the Department of Fisheries has provided opportunities to reservoir Oustee (project affected people due to submergence) families to take up fishing as a profession. As per the last report, more than 1,789 fishermen are engaged in fishing activities which generates secondary benefits to more than 1,000 families. A large number of fishermen cooperative societies are functioning in the reservoir.