63-Present Status, Future Prospects, Conservation and Restoration of Ansupa Lake, Orissa

Abstract

Ansupa lake is the second largest lake of Orissa. It stretches over 3 villages namely Kadalibadi, Bishnupura and Subarnapur of Banki subdivision of Cuttack district. It is a fresh water lake. The lake is 3 km long natural water body with varying width from 250 to 500m. It covers an area of 750 acres with a water spread area of 350 acres and rest is land area. It harbours a numerous array of organisms from plankton to the large fishes. A number of migratory birds visit to the lake for breeding and feeding. 40,000 migratory birds visit to this lake where as only 3,000 birds are indigenous to this lake. There are about 202 numbers of fishermen families depending on this lake for their livelihood. There are about 70 numbers of boats and 202 numbers of nets used for fishing in the lake. The fishermen are not habituated for any alcoholic drinks. There are two cooperative societies operated in the lake for the benefit of the poor fishermen. The domestic tourist arrived to this lake was 35,350 numbers and only 30 were fror. !foreign tourists during recent years. There are several tributaries draining into the lake and the depth is declining due to siltation and soil erosion. The water depth varies from 6 meters to 2 meters during monsoon and summer season of the year. The conservation and restoration measures to be taken by the Government and Non-Government Organization (NGOs) have been discussed in detail in this paper.