Deepor Beel : Winter Birding Festival 2025
The recently conducted third annual Deepor Beel Winter Birding Festival 2025 saw an increase in the number of both migratory and residential birds compared to the count done in 2024.
Deepor Beel:
- It is a perennial freshwater lake located on the outskirts of Guwahati, in the Kamrup district of Assam.
- It lies in a former channel of the Brahmaputra
- It covers an area of 4.1 sq.km.
- It is the only major stormwater storage basin for the city of Guwahati.
- The lake’s outflow is the Khandajan rivulet, which joins the Brahmaputra.
- It was recognised as a Ramsar Site in 2002 and as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) in 2004. It is the only Ramsar site in Assam.
- This lake is a staging site on migratory flyways, and some of the largest concentrations of aquatic birds in Assam can be seen, especially in winter.
- Some globally threatened birds are supported, including Spot-billed Pelican, Lesser Greater Adjutant Stork, and Baer’s Pochard.
- About 50 fish species and aquatic resources provide livelihood support to about 1,200 households residing in about 12 villages on the fringes of the wetland.
- The Rani and Garbhanga hills, the habitat of the Asiatic elephants on the southern side of the beel, are part of this ecosystem.
