Maharana Pratap Sagar


Maharana Pratap Sagar, in India, also known as Pong Reservoir or Pong Dam Lake was created in 1975, by building the highest earthfill dam in India on the Beas River in the wetland zone of the Siwalik Hills of the Kangra district of the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Named in the honour of Maharana Pratap, the reservoir or the lake is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the 27 international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention.
The reservoir covers an area of, and the wetlands portion is.
The Pong Reservoir and Gobindsagar Reservoir are the two most important fishing reservoirs in the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh. These reservoirs are the leading sources of fish within the Himalayan states.

Location

The closest railway stations to the project are Mukerian, at, and Pathankot, at. Nagrota Surian and Jawali, located on the periphery of the reservoir, are connected by a narrow gauge railway line, on the Kangra railway line, which connects Pathankot to Jogindernagar.
The reservoir is connected by a good network of roads to major cities in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
Distance from the main cities
Apart from the airports at Chandigrah and Amritsar which are far off, the closest airport to the reservoir is Pathankot and Gaggal.
Maharana Pratap Lake to Bharmar Distance 12 km.

Topography

The reservoir is bounded by the rugged Dhauladhar mountain range, the low foothills of the Himalaya on the northern edge of the Indo-Gangetic plains, and the mountain streams cutting through valleys.

Hydrology and engineering features

Hydrology

The Beas River, on which the Pong Dam is located, is one of the five major rivers of the Indus basin. The river flows from the Beas Kund near Rohtang Pass, in the upper Himalayas, and traverses generally in a north–south direction until Largi, from where it turns sharply at nearly a right angle and flows in a westerly direction up to the Pong Dam. The river traverses a total length of about from the source to the Pong Dam.
The reservoir drains a catchment area of, out of which the permanent snow catchment is. Monsoon rainfall between July and September is a major source of water supply into the reservoir, apart from snow and glacier melt. The project area experiences hot summers, with maximum temperature of, with hot and humid climate. Winters are fairly cold and mostly dry. The dam acts as a sponge for flood flows, and reservoir regulation prevents the inundation of surrounding upland areas from routine flooding during the monsoon season.
The reservoir stretch is with a maximum width of, and with a mean depth of. While the surface water temperature varies between, the incoming river water has a temperature range of.

Engineering features

Subsequent to the partition of India, the waters of the Indus river system were allocated river wise, with certain stipulations, as per the Indus Water Treaty, between India and Pakistan. India got exclusive use of the three eastern rivers and Pakistan got the exclusive use of the three western rivers. Following this treaty, India prepared a master plan to utilize the waters of 3 rivers which came to its share. and the Bhakra Dam was constructed across Satluj River. Then, the Beas River was tapped in two stages, with the Pong Dam forming the second stage development. Ravi River has also been developed through the Ranjit Sagar Dam Project or Thein Dam. All three river developments are multipurpose in nature involving irrigation, water supply and hydropower generation.
The Beas Dam has been built on the Beas River as it enters the plains at Talwara, also called as another temple of modern India. It is an earth core gravel shell dam of height above the deepest foundation, and it is the highest earthfill dam in India. The reservoir or the lake has a storage capacity of. The designed maximum flood discharge of is discharged through a gated chute spillway located on the left abutment of the dam.
The confirmed ruling features of the dam are detailed below:
The hydro-power plant located downstream, on the right side of the spillway structure, was initially planned for an installed capacity of, with six generating units: 6x. This was later upgraded to 6x, totalling a capacity of as of 2012. Water from the reservoir is led into the power house through penstock pipes, each of diameter.
Reservoir operation is a crucial aspect since both Bhakra Dam and Pong Dam Projects necessitate their operation in an 'integrated manner' to achieve optimal benefits of irrigation and power. Water stored in the reservoir during the summer and rainy season, after meeting with the irrigation requirements of the partner states, is released in a regulated manner during lean periods, in a fixed schedule of Filling Period-Depletion Period for both the reservoirs. The filling and depletion period for
A technical committee of the Bhakra Beas Management Board authorizes the monthly releases appropriately honouring the requirements projected by the partner states. The operation manuals titled "Designer's Criteria for the Operation, Maintenance and Observation" for the Bhakra, Pong & Pando reservoirs, duly updated as required, provide the guiding rules for the efficient integrated operation of the reservoirs.
The two reservoirs supply irrigation and drinking water to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chandigarh. Himachal Pradesh is also provided with drinking water supply.

Water quality

The water-quality parameters recorded for the reservoir are:

Ramsar site

Lake was declared a Ramsar Wetland site on account of its rich waterfowl diversity for conservation and sustainable use of the wetland. This recognition was based on a proposal formulated by the Himachal State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Shimla submitted to the Ramsar Bureau, Switzerland through the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India.
The large reservoir and its strategic location in the extreme north-west of the northern plains has attracted migratory birds from the plains of India and Central Asian countries and Siberia. More than 220 bird species of 54 families have been recorded. The two-day waterfowl census, which ended on 1 Feb 2015, recorded over 130,000 birds in the Pong Dam Wetlands. The interception of the migratory birds on their trans-Himalayan fly path, during each migration season, has enriched the biodiversity values of the reservoir. The Pong reservoir and its catchment have the following rich flora and fauna.

Forest vegetation

The reservoir peripheral land area has mixed perennial and deciduous pine forests on hills. Eucalyptus trees have also been grown in the area. The forest growth provides enough sustenance to the migratory birds. The tree species of the forest area are acacia, jamun, shisham, mango, mulberry, ficus, kachanar, amla and prunus. A variety of shrubs, grasses and climbers have also been reported.
The reservoir seasonal water-level variation between the maximum water level and the minimum draw-down level does not permit growth of much emergent vegetation, but some amount of submerged vegetation has been noticed.

Limnology

A wide variety of commercially viable fish, 27 species of 5 families, such as mahseer, catla, mirror carp, singhara and others are recorded in the Pong Dam reservoir and its tributaries. Before the reservoir was built, catfishes, mirror carps and a few coarse fish were the dominant fish fauna in the Beas River. With the emergence of the reservoir, commercial fishing was encouraged as an important programme not only to provide employment to about 1500 fishermen but also to promote the eco-tourism potential.
A planned operation of fish stocking was launched with first introduction of common carp in 1974 and Indian major carps or silver carp in 1976-77. This resulted in a shift in the catch structure of the reservoir, with carps accounting for 61.8% of the total landings in 1987-88. The present fish stocks in the reservoir, in the sequence of their abundance are: 1) rohu, Aorichthys seenghala, 2) Labeo calbasu Tor putitora Cirrhinus mrigala, 5) Wallago attu, 6) Cyprinus carpio, 7) Labeo dero, 8) Catla catla and 9) Channa sp.
The reservoir, unlike other reservoirs in the region, has shown a marked growth in catch of mahseer fish, recording 20% of the total catch during 1999–2000 with the average size of the fish ranging from. This is attributed to the change in the Himachal Pradesh Fishing Rules, with an added clause which specifies the minimum catchable size for mahseer as or approximately. That rule is stated to give to each female mahseer to breed at least once before being caught.
Mahseer angling in the Pong Dam reservoir is said to be the only one of its kind in the country.

Bird sanctuary

The reservoir was declared as a bird sanctuary in 1983. A belt from the periphery of the lake has been declared as buffer zone for the management of the bird sanctuary. The national, as well as international, significance of the sanctuary is enhanced because of its waterfowl diversity, which was evidenced by the increase of water fowl species from 39 prior to the reservoir to 54 species at post-reservoir stage. The number of birds reported, particularly during the winter period of November to March, has steadily increased over the years. The recent records indicate a water fowl count of 130,000 in 2004 and 142,000 during 2005 migratory birds - a major increase from the average annual count of 18,887 for the period 1988-1995.
The main bird species reported are the barheaded geese, Anser indicus, northern lapwing, ruddy shelduck, northern pintail, common teal, Indian spot-billed duck, Eurasian coot, red-necked grebe, black-headed gulls, plovers, black stork, terns, water-fowl and egrets.
The avian habitats in the reservoir area are categorized under the following heads:
  1. The receding shore-line form mudflats and mud spits from October onwards which provide organic matter, worms, insects and molluscs for wintering birds and plovers. Wagtails, sand larks and pipits also use the mudflats.
  2. The shallow water on the margins of the reservoir and the open deep water are used by dabbling ducks and some long-legged waders
  3. In the sandy banks near the reservoir periphery with dry sand banks strewn with small boulders, with little or no vegetation, stone curlew and pratincoles feed here.
  4. Below the outfall of the dam, swamp habitats and water side vegetation are used by birds such as ducks, coot, warblers, babblers, munias, kingfishers and predators.
  5. In the reservoir draw down areas, which are also cultivated by local people during winter, bar-headed geese and ruddy shelduck feed.
Around five thousand tourists visit the bird sanctuary during the winter season, and most of them come to watch migratory birds for the first time. Efforts are being made to encourage eco-tourism to attract more tourists to the reservoir.

Fauna

The periphery above the water surface area of the reservoir has recorded fauna species such as barking deer, sambar, wild boars, leopards and oriental small-clawed otters.

Temple & Tourism

Water sports

A regional water-sports centre has been established in the Pong Dam Reservoir, which offers focused activities such as canoeing, rowing, sailing, and water skiing, apart from swimming. Training programmes are organized in water safety and rescue measures with three-tier water-sports courses: the basic course, intermediate course, and advanced course. Modern infrastructure facilities have been created with a 75-bed hostel and a 10-suite rest house. It is said to be the only centre of its type in the country. To know more about the institute please visit the website of the institute:

Protection measures

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