Ropar Wetland, also named Ropar Lake, is a man-made freshwater riverine and lacustrine wetland. The area has at least 9 mammal, 154 bird (migratory and local), 35 fish, 9 arthropod, 11 rotifer, 9 crustacean and 10 protozoan species, making it biologically diverse. This important ecological zone is located in the Shivalik foothills of the Lower Himalayas and was created in 1952 on the Sutlej River, in the Punjab state of India, by building a head regulator to store and divert water for beneficial uses of irrigation, drinking and industrial water supply. The endangered turtle Chitra indica and the threatened snake Python molurus ("at lower risk"), as per IUCN Red List, are reported to be resident in the wetland. Considering the wetland's diverse and rich biodiversity, Ramsar Convention has included Ropar Wetland (listed as Ropar Lake) as one of the Ramsar sites among the 42 sites listed under India, for "the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the ecological and hydrological functions they perform."
The wetland once was a popular tourist attraction for bird watching and boating. A tourism complex called the ‘Pinccasia’ was located within the wetland boundary, which was run by the Punjab Tourism Development Corporation. A boat club was also functioning. Now only a dilapidated building of tourist bungalow exists, boating Bay is damaged, garden is also unkept. The road leading to Katli fish farm once displayed typical ecological succession with Marsilea growing on the banks of lake along with Equisetum sp.(Horsetails) growing through large rock boulders on the bank. Typha grew further away from lake going across the narrow road with Ferns growing ultimately leading to shrubs during early 1990s. Now only shrubs and trees can be seen.
Access
The wetland is located close to the city of Rupnagar, 45 km northwest of Chandigarh City, in Rubnagar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts of Punjab. Chandigarh is the nearest airport, which connects it to the rest of India.
History
An archaeological museum of the Archaeological Survey of India at Ropar has displays of the antiquities unearthed during the excavations of mound in the area along with photographs displaying excavation material. The Museum depicts a sequence of six cultural periods or phases, with some breaks from Harappan times to the present day, found in the 21-metre-high (69 ft) ancient mound known as Nalagarh Tibbi overlaying the Shiwalik (also spelt Sivalik) deposition on the left bank of the Satluj River where it emerges into the plains. A deep well with a stone inscription of Emperor Shah Jahan (AD 1627-1658) has been located at the foot of the mound. The excavations have established that advanced civilization similar to the Harappa and Mohenjodaro Civilization prospered in Ropar town, an integral part of the wetland.
Anglo - Sikh treaty The wetland area has also a modern history in respect of Anglo - Sikh relations. On 26 October 1831, sitting under the shade of an old ficus tree on the bank of Sutlej River, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Lord William Bentinck, the British Governor General signed an agreement defining the Anglo - Sikh relations and territories.
Topography The total area covered by the Wetland is 1365 ha, which includes 800 ha area of the river and the reservoir, 30 ha of forest area named as Sadavarat Forest and 30 ha under marshy plants. The wetland is surrounded by hills in the North West and by plain area in the South and South East. Agricultural crops such as wheat, rice, sugarcane, sorghum etc., are grown in the farm lands in the area surrounding the wetland but the hills have thin vegetation and are exposed to intensive grazing.
Hydrology Climatically, the drainage area of the wetland falls under semi-arid zone of Punjab with mean annual rainfall of 1518 mm. Initially, in the year 1882, a small headwork was constructed on the right bank of Sutlej River, near Ropar town, to supply water to Sirhind Canal. Subsequently, in 1952, a head regulator was constructed to divert water not only to the Bist Doab Canal but also to Sirhind Canal and to the Bhakra Main Canal (upstream of the wetland), for irrigation, industrial and domestic use.
Water quality Water quality that determines the health of ecosystem of the wetland was monitored by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) in the year 1998-99. The water quality was reported to be of 'A' category as the river entered into Punjab and deteriorated to 'D' category downstream of Ropar Lake, mainly due to the industrial effluents from a number of factories and industrial units. Further studies on physico-chemical analysis of important parameters, biological estimations as well as pesticide residue analysis have been initiated.
Flora and fauna The wetland is rich in flora and fauna which are categorized below.
Flora A total of 19 species of trees and 14 species of bushes and grasses are recorded. Of these, the tree species are Acacia catechu, Ameles modesta, Acacia nilotica, Albizzia lebbek Azadirachta indica, Bombax ceiba, Cassia fistula, Dalbergia sissoo, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus religiosa, Mangifera indica, Melia azedarach, Moringa oleifera, Morus indica, Prosopis juliflora, Salix (willow), Syzygium cumini (jambul) and Ziziphus jujuba.
Aquafauna Wetland is a major source of fisheries since large species of fishes have been recorded; some of the commercially important ones are: Rohu; Labeo gonius Seerha; Labeo calbasu Kalbans or Dhai; Labeo dero Gid; Labeo dyocheilus (Kunni); Catla catla Thal; Cirrhinus mrigala Mori; Puntius sarana Puthi; Cyprinus carpio communis (common carp); Cyprinus carpio spacularis (Mirror carp); Ceenopharyngodon idelle (grass carp); wallago attu Mali; Aorichthys seenghala Sangarha; Mastacembelus armatus Sam (Tire track eel); Ambasis ranga Shisha Mach; Channa punctatus Dolla (snake headed fish); and Channa striata Curd. Gour species of frogs have been noted.
Avifauna Several species of birds have been recorded including 49 local birds, 11 migratory birds, 3 rare birds and 54 common birds. Some of the rare migratory birds are: golden-backed woodpecker (Dinopium benghalense, crimson-breasted barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) and green barbet (Stactolaema olivacea).
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