A refuge for wildlife
By Suresh C. Sharma and Vincent Van Ross

SPREAD across 11,003 acres of land in Kaithal and Kurukshetra districts of Haryana is one of its largest, yet little-known, sanctuary — the Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary. The mythical river Saraswati, which is still believed to flow beneath the surface of the sanctuary, lends this sanctuary its name.

Originally known as Saraswati plantations, this area was declared a reserve forest on April 27,1973. And it became a wildlife sanctuary on July 29,1988.

The Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary flaunts a rich vegetation. It comprises a fair mix of native as well as imported trees and shrubs. Just to give you an idea of how varied the vegetation is, we came across shahtoot, sheesham, gular, jamun, dhak, bargad, peepal, jaanty, neem, lasora, siris, pilkhan, keekar, kachnar, jaal, semal, frans, Kaimb, saunjana, pongam, salvaderia, ber, eucalyptus, babool and musket etc.

Eucalyptus trees tower over the rest of the vegetation hemming the boundary of the sanctuary. Interestingly, the keekar in the Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary is becoming the victim of a strange disease as elsewhere in Haryana. This disease dries up the leaves, branches and the trunk of the trees and blackens them. That makes them look as if they have been burnt down by some forest fire. What makes them stand out is the fact that the trees belonging to other species which grow next to these keekars are not affected by this disease.

The few morning hours we spent birding at this sanctuary were fruitful. The bird sightings during our visit include ringed dove, little brown dove, red turtle dove, spotted dove, common myna, bank myna, pied myna, blackheaded myna, black drongo, racket-tailed drongo, house crow, jungle crow, common tree pie, Indian roller, golden backed woodpecker, migpie robin, Indian robin, little egret, small or intermediate egret, large egret, cattle egret, crow pheasant, grey partridge, purple sunbird, tailor bird, jungle babbler, common woodshrike, white-breasted waterhen, pied crested cuckoo, Indian koel, little green bee-eater and pariah kite. We heard the bird calls of common hawk cuckoo frequently though we never got to see one.

No serious ornithological survey seems to have been carried out in this sanctuary so far. The checklist of birds at the sanctuary is incomplete and non-specific.

The sanctuary staff carried out a census of select mammals in 1998-99. According to them, the population of various mammals are: Hog deer (164), nilgai (401), porcupine (6), jackal (170) and fox (111). The other mammals found in this sanctuary include jungle hare, jungle cat and rhesus monkey. No head count has been carried out for these mammals.

Prominent among the reptiles found in this sanctuary are cobra monitor lizard.

As part of the development work in the sanctuary, about 2,700 running metres of wire mesh has been used to build fences along the boundary of the sanctuary. Interestingly, a few villages are still located inside the sanctuary.

Three concrete watch towers have been constructed at vantage points in the sanctuary. Rising to a height of about 30 feet, these watch towers provide a panoramic view of the surrounding forest. The sanctuary also maintains a two-room rest house managed by the Forest Department.

There is a small man-made lake in the sanctuary. This attracts migratory waterfowl during winter, in addition to the resident birds it supports. Animals too visit this lake to quench their thirst. Besides this, there are several natural depressions in the sanctuary. These come alive with the arrival of monsoons by trapping rain water. Two tubewells supplement the water supply of the sanctuary.

The main source of water in this sanctuary, however, is Ban Ganga. Ban Ganga is a large drain that winds through the sanctuary. Babools are planted on either side of this drain. One of the largest reservoirs of Haryana, Bibipur or Murtzabad reservoir releases its water into this drain. After carrying this water through the sanctuary, Ban Ganga discharges its water into the Ghaggar river.

If Ban Ganga and its surrounding areas are properly developed, it can support a sizeable population of wetland birds. This could prove to be a boon for those birds which are looking for alternative sites following degradation or destruction of the wetlands they have been living at.

A sanctuary of this size can support many more mammals. If it is scientifically and strategically well managed, this sanctuary can offer a home to some of the endangered species of mammals of this area. They can be introduced into this sanctuary after assessing the suitability of the habitat.

Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary holds to a promise as a refuge for wildlife in this area. But, it needs to be sensitively and realistically managed.

The question is: Will this sanctuary see an all-round development in the coming years and emerge as a premier wildlife sanctuary of the country? Or, will this sanctuary too become a myth like the mighty river after which it is named?