Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary

Deepor Beel is a famous freshwater ox-bow lake formed by the river Brahmaputra in Assam, India. It is located in the heart of Assam, Guwahati with an total area of 4,014 hectares. It was declared as a Bird Sanctuary (Wildlife Sanctuary) in 1989, a Ramsar site in 2002, Important Bird Area in 2004 as per the criteria A1 and A4iii and an Eco Sensitive Zone in 2021.

Biodiversity: 435 plants (Gogoi 2007); 219 algae (Baruah et al. 2020); 24 dragonflies, 15 damselflies (Ray & Saikia 2017); 31 aquatic insects (Choudhury & Gupta 2015); 14 Protozoas (Kaushik et al. 2019); 78 birds (Dewan 2011)

Issue to address: Clear boundary demarcation of Deepor Beel | Restoration of the Wetland | Re-alignment of the railway line

Newspaper articles

1. 09 June, 2022 |Conservation of Ramsar sites | The Sentinel

2. 30 April 2022 | Locals protest as NR Railways start electrification work through Deepor Beel | G Plus

3. 20 March 2022 | In Assam, locals and forest officials have joined hands to save elephants from train hits | Sanskrita Bharadwaj | Scroll.in

4. 17 March 2022 | Saving elephants from train hits near Deepor beel in Assam | Sanskrita Bharadwaj | Mongabay

5. 27 December 2021 | Deepor Beel wetland and Ramsar site boundaries still await proper demarcation | Barsha Das | G Plus

6. 06 December 2021 | Fisherman, birds under threat over Deepor Beel demarcation | Barsha Das | G Plus

7. 11 October 2021 | Deepor Beel Demarcation Plan Unsettles local communities | Nibir Deka | G Plus

8. 15 September 2021 | Assam wetland neighbours oppose railway track realignment | The Hindu

9. 07 September 2021 | How Assam’s Deepor Beel is perishing from concretisation, waste dumping | Gurvinder Singh | Down To Earth

10. 01 September 2021 | Locals point to flaws in Assam’s Deepar Beel eco-sensitive zone | The Hindu

11. 27 August, 2021|Assam’s Deepar Beel Wildlife Sanctuary breathes easy after eco-sensitive zone notification | The Hindu

12. 24 August 2021 | Rehabilitate affected fishermen around Deepor Beel | The Sentinel

13. 18 August 2021 | Threat to Deepor Beel highlighted on the occasion of 75th Independence Day | The Sentinel

14. 17 June 2021 | Assam seeks realignment of rail track through sanctuary | The Hindu

15. 12 April 2021 | Dying Deepor Beel: Pondering the Plastic Plague | Kangkana Goswami Bharadwaz | Northeast Now

16. 26 March 2021 | Deepor Beel, the riverine wetland in lower Brahmaputra valley, on the brink | Sushanta Talukdar | Frontline

17. 02 January 2021 | Community fishing banned at Assam Ramsar site | The Hindu

18. 22 August 2019 | NGT directs Assam government to declare ‘Deepor Beel’ as an eco-sensitive zone | Prasanta Mazumdar | The New Indian Express

19. 01 March 2019 | The Earth is not for humans alone, says NGT over Deepor Beel | Rajat Ghai | Down To Earth

Relevant Documents

1. The National Green Tribunal Order. Application No. 472/2018 (I.A. No. 37/2019). Earlier O.A. No.19/2014 (EZ)

2. Minutes of the meeting on current execution of electrification works by Indian Railways

3. Report on Visit to Deepor Beel in Assam – a wetland included under National Wetland Conservation and Management Programme of the Ministry of Environment & Forests. 13-14 August 2008

4. Global Response letter by Dr. Achintya Bezbaruah, North Dakota State University, USA

5. Project Report "Qualitative and quantitative study of lower and higher organisms and their functional role in the Deepor Beel ecosystem" submitted by Prasanta Kumar Saikia funded by North Eastern Space Applications Centre, Department of Space, Government of India, Umium, Meghalaya, Shillong in 2005

6. Micro-Plan (2016-17 to 2026-27). Mikirpara Chakardo Eco Development Commitee, Deepor Beel, Guwahati Wildlife Division. "In collaboration with the forest dependent communities, to restore forest eco-systems to enhance the forest dependent community’s livelihoods and ensure conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity". Funded by the Agence France de Développement and Govt. of Assam.

7. Action Plan for Deepor Beel. By members of River Rejuvenation Committee (RRC)

8. Preliminary hydrological investigations of Deepar Beel and strategies for its monitoring and management. 1988-89. National Institute of Hydrology, Jalvigyan Bhawan Roorkee

Research articles and Book Chapters

1. Prasanta Kumar Saikia. 2003. A brief summary of Deepor Beel Bird Sanctuary. In B.Das, Zoonica Chapter: 1 Published by Department of Zoology, Pragjyotish College, Guwahati

2. Rajib Gogoi. 2003. Macrophytic diversity of Deepar Beel, Assam. In book: P.P. Baruah, Biodiversity of Eastern Himalayas Protected Areas, Handique College, Guwahati

3. Rajib Gogoi. 2007. Conserving Deepar Beel Ramsar Site, Assam. Current Science 93(4): 445-446

4. Jyotismita Das & P.K. Saikia. 2011. Species diversity of water birds in Deepor Beel, Assam. Journal of research in Biology 5: 363-369

5. Jyotismita Das & P.K. Saikia. 2012. Seasonal variation of avian diversity in Deepor Beel wetland, Kamrup, Assam. NeBIO 3(1): 25-34

6. Chandasudha Goswami & Manash P. Kalita. 2012. Ichthayofaunal Diversity & Anthropogenic Stress on Deepor Beel: the only Ramsar site in Assam. IOSR Journal Of Environmental Science, Toxicology And Food Technology 2(1): 54-59.

7. Sumita Sharma & B.K. Sharma. 2013. Faunal Diversity of Aquatic Invertebrates ofDeepor Beel (A Ramsar site), Assam, Northeast India. Wetland Ecosystem Series, 17 : 1-227, (Published by the Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata)

8. Malabika Kakati Saikia, Prasanta Kumar Saikia & Ramesh Bhatta. 2014. Management perspectives for avian population conservation and enrichment in Deepor Beel Ramsar Site, Northeast India. Journal of Global Biosciences 3(2): 428-451

9. Chitrini Mozumder, N. K. Tripathi & Taravudh Tipdecho. 2014. Ecosystem evaluation (1989–2012) of Ramsar wetland Deepor Beel using satellite-derived indices. Environment Monitoring and Assessment: 10.1007/s10661-014-3976-2

10. Dharitri Choudhury & Susmita Gupta. 2015. Aquatic insect community of Deepor beel (Ramsar site), Assam, India. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 3(1): 182-192

11. Simanku Borah, Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, Bhaskar Jyoti Saud, AK Yadav, D Debnath, S Yengkokpan, P Das, N Sharma, NS Singh, KK Sarma. 2016. Length–weight relationship of six indigenous fish species from Deepor beel, a Ramsar site in Assam, India. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 33(3): 1-3

12. Swapna Devi Ray & Prasanta Kumar Saikia. 2017. Odonate from the aquatic vegetation of Deepor beel, a ramsar site in Assam. SACON ENVIS Newsletter (Sarovar Saurabh) 13(2): 6-9

13. Kangkana Kashyap, Dhrubajyoti Sahariah & Swagata Ghosh. 2018. Monitoring land use/land cover change and consequent effects on wetland environment-a case study of Deepor beel, Assam, India. 19th Esri India User Conference.

14. Jekulin Lipi Saikia. 2019. Deepor Beel wetland: Threats to Ecosystem Services, their importance to dependent communities and possible management measures. Natural Resources and Conservation 7(2): 9-24

15. VK Dwivedi, KKS Bhatia & BC Patwary. 2019. Effect of urbanization on Deepar Beel in the city of Guwahati, Assam, India. In Book: Urban Lakes in India: Conservation, management and rejuvenation.

16. Partha Jyoti Das & Arup Kumar Das. 2019. The Deepar Beel catchment and landscape: A spatial assessment using Remote Sensing and GIS for facilitating management of sustainable ecosystem services. In Book: Harnessing Wetlands for Sustainable Livelihoods, Cotton University, Notion Press, Chennai

17. Somoyita Sur & Jaydev Mandal. 2019. Deepor Beel: A Weeping and Blemishing Ramsar Site. Jalaplavit 9(3): 48-58

18. Kumar Kritartha Kaushik, Pimpi Sahu & Karabi Dutta. 2019. Protozoan Diversity In Deepor Beel, Assam, India. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research 8(12): 1703-1706

19. Partha Pratim Baruah, Bishmita Boruah, Soumin Nath, Himamani Kalita & Shaswatee Bhattacharjee. 2020. Algal Diversity in Deepor Beel of Assam: A Ramsar Site of North East India. Nelumbo 62(2): 153-155

20. Debendra Kumar Bezbaruah & Tribeni Bezbaruah. 2020. Wetland ecosystem with special reference to Deepar Beel of Assam: An empirical analysis. Proteus Journal 11(9): 444-460

21. Jyotisikha Dutta & Archana Sharma. 2020. Valuing Fishing Activity of the Deepor Beel. Space and Culture, India 7(4): 122-132

22. Nazneen Ara Hoque & Archana Sharma. 2020. Sustainable management and farmer’s willingness to participate: A case study of Deepor beel. Ecology, Environment and Conservation 26(4): 1806-1815

23. Simanku Borah, Pronob Das, Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, AK Yadav, Bhaskar Jyoti Saud & Basanta Kumar Das. 2020. A report on the occurrence of Bangana dero (Hamilton, 1822) from Deepor beel (Ramsar site no. 1207), Brahmaputra valley, Assam. Journal of Applied and Natural Science 12(2): 202-206

24. Ishita Afreen Ahmed, Shahfahad & Mirza Razi Imam Baig. 2021. Lake water volume calculation using time series LANDSAT satellite data: a geospatial analysis of Deepor Beel Lake, Guwahati. Frontiers in Engineering and Built Environment 1 (1): 107-130

25. Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, Bhaskar Jyoti Saud, Simanku Borah, PK Saikia & Basanta Kumar Das. 2022. Status of biodiversity and limno-chemistry of Deepor Beel, a Ramsar site of international importance: Conservation needs and the way forward. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 24(4): 64-74

PhD Dissertations

1. Rajib Gogoi. 2006. Macrophytic diversity of Deepar Beel with special reference to seasonal variation. Department of Botany, Gauhati University

2. Girindra Kalita. 2007. Ecology and distribution of macro invertebrate enmeshed fauna in Deepar wetland of Assam India. Department of Zoology, Gauhati University

3. Nibedita Kapil. 2008. Water quality of an urban wetland system a case study with the Deepor Beel. Department of Chemistry, Gauhati University

4. Abdul Kashem Dewan. 2011. Studies on the diversity and abundance of aquatic avifauna in protected and unprotected wetlands of lower Assam. Department of Zoology, Gauhati University

5. Gurung Lisha. 2013. Assessment of diatom diversity at Deepar Beel a Ramsar site through ultrastructural and molecular approaches. Department of Botany, Gauhati University

6. Jyotisikha Dutta. 2017. Economic valuation of the Deepor Beel Assam. Department of Economics, Gauhati University

7. Dharitri Choudhury. 2018. Impact of Solid Waste Disposal on Water Quality and Aquatic Insect Diversity In Deepor Beel A Wetland Of International Importance In Assam. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University

8. Suravi Kalita. 2019. Relation between the carbon content and the physicochemical parameters of water sediment and macrophytes of Deepor Beel, Guwahati, Assam. Department of Environmental Science, Gauhati University

9. Dipti Thakuria. 2020. Diversity and distribution of odonates in rani deepor beel landscape assam with special reference to the life history of certain species. Department of Zoology, Gauhati University

Internships

Parangam Sharma Basistha. 2016. Assessment of impact of urbanization on Deepor beel wetland. Report submitted to the fulfillment of internship programme with the ENVIS Centre-Assam of Assam Science Technology and Environment Council, Guwahati, Assam