|History of Khijadiya|
|Tuesday, 22 June 2010 15:18|
The Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary is located about 12 km. away from Jamnagar. It is a unique wetland eco-system having two fresh water lakes extending on an area of 6.05 SQ. km. Besides, marshes, mangroves, creek, of the Gulf of Kutch and salt pans are located in the adjoining area. The adjoining area falls in the Marine Sanctuary and therefore, the entire Khijadiya area forms an excellent and unique eco-system found no where else in India. It provides unique assemblage of fresh and saline wetlands providing micro habitat diversity to water birds.
The Khijadiya lakes are formed by reclamation bounds which were built during the erstwhile state regime. After independence these bunds were repaired and strengthened to prevent the salinity ingress. On one side of the bund fresh water lakes are formed by water which drains from Ruparel and Kalinri rivers. On the other side of the bund, large creeks flowing from the Gulf of Kutch are located. These creeks support mangroves and other marine vegetations on the Gulf side. On the land ward side in the bird sanctuary Deshi babul, pilu, Prosopis and other inland vegetations are found growing profusely.
The Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary is divided in two parts , one section is known as Dhunvav and another section is known as Jambuda, popularly known by the name of the villages near which they are located. Both the fresh water lakes are separate from each other and there is no interlink between them. Both the lakes have marked difference in depth of the water, vegetation, soil texture, water quality and salinity. Thus it provides a number of micro and macro habitats which forms the sites into unique eco-system.
It is a paradise for water fowls, wadders , terrestrial birds and nearly 259 species are found in the Sanctuary. Indian legend Dr.Salim Ali visited the Sanctuary in 1984 and he sighted 104 species on a single day.
Once the water dries out , area turns into an excellent grass land eco-system supporting numerous insects, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and herbivores like Blue bull.
Over the years all these unique ness has made this small bird sanctuary very popular amongst ornithologist, bird watchers and tourists.
|Last Updated on Thursday, 01 July 2010 17:20|