About Gogabill Lake
Geography of Gogabil Lake
Gogabil is Bihar’s 15th Protected Area and also state’s first Community Reserve. The State Board for Wildlife, under the provision of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, amended in 2002, incorporated Gogabil as Conservation Reserve and Community Reserve on 2 August, 2019. Gogabil, Bagharbeel and Baldia chaur are important wetlands enlisted in the Important Bird Areas (IBA) of Asia.
It is a prototype of oxbow lake of about 1 to 5 km dimension with ample water content round the year. The waterbody and land area of Gogabil encompass 217 acres area of which 73.78 acres belong to the government while the rest is owned by the local community of Amdabad and Manihari blocks of Katihar district.
The area is heavily flooded during monsoons every year with rains and spill over from Kankhar, Mahananda and Ganga rivers. The lake is rich in aquatic flora and fauna providing abundant food attracting migratory birds in the winters. The lake provides a habitat for about 130 species of birds of which about 30 are migratory. Globally, there are 13 bird ways of which 2, namely, Central Asian and South Asian bird ways traverse Bihar.
Waterbirds which have been visualized recently in the month of January 2021 by the environmentalists and bird viewers of Janlakshya are as follows:
| Pond heron |
Indian cormorant |
Great cormorant |
Little cormorant |
| Cattle egret |
Great egret |
Intermediate egret |
Little egret |
| Northern lapwing |
Gray headed lapwing |
Red wattled lapwing |
Black winged stilt |
| Little stint |
Little grebe |
Great crested grebe |
Gray headed swamphen |
| Pheasant tailed jacana |
Bronze winged jacana |
White breasted waterhen |
Asian openbill |
| Lesser adjutant |
Black headed ibis |
Red naped ibis |
Common kingfisher |
| White throated kingfisher |
Pied kingfisher |
Osprey |
Oriental darter |
| Wood sandpiper |
Red crested pochard |
Ferruginous duck |
Northern pintail |
| Eurasian wigeon |
Gadwall |
Common pochard |
Grey lag goose |
| Eurasian coot |
Green winged teal |
Cotton pigmy goose |
Northern shoveler |
| Lesser whistling duck |
Grey heron |
Purple heron |
Yellow bittern |
| Knob billed duck |
Glossy ibis |
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Major threats to Gogabil:
Over the decades, waterbody of the lake have shruncken due to accumulation of silt following every flood
Intensive agricultural practices including the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides pose threat of water pollution affecting phyto and zooplanktons of the lake and its possible accumulation to toxic levels in the birds
Sound pollution is disturbing the bird habitat due to use of tractors, vehicles, pump sets and loudspeakers during ceremonies and festivals
Water pollution due to plastics, polythenes, thermocol, metals, detergents, kerosene, mobil and other bio non degradable products due to human activities of different types:
Human establishments and activities hampering the tranquillity of the area and construction projects like power grid, transmission lines, towers, multilane roads
- North – Kaccha from Kumaripur to Roshna .
- South – REO Road from Amdabad Mahananda Embankment .
- West - PWD road from Manihari to Kumaripur.