Keoladeo National Park (KNP), named after a Keoladeo (Shiva) temple within its boundaries, is located just south of Bharatpur town in the state of Rajasthan, within the ‘golden triangle’ of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur. Bharatpur, which is 18k south of Fatehpur Sikri, & 50k west of Agra on Hwy 11 which leads to Jaipur, is situated on the fringes of the Thar desert so the summers are invariably hot and the winters are not very cold.

The 29 sq km park was designated as a bird sanctuary in 1956, a Ramsar* site in 1981, a national park in 1982, & a UNESCO World Heritage Reserve in 1985. Before that, going back to the 1850s, it was the private duck-hunting preserve of the Maharaja of Bharatpur. Until the recent past (see below), the park ranked as one of the best waterfowl preserves in the world, & one of the major wintering areas for large numbers of aquatic birds, including several threatened species from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, China & Siberia, especially the rare & endangered Siberian Crane. [*The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands.]

The park, the only area with much vegetation in this semi-arid region, was a flat patchwork of marshes which were artificially created in the 1850s & maintained since then by a system of canals, sluice gates, & dikes, with water supplied from a dam outside the park boundaries. The water was fed into the marshes twice a year, usually in mid-July soon after the onset of the monsoon, & again in fall when the bund (diked area) was drained & ready for cultivation in winter. From February onwards the land began to dry out and by June only some water remained. If necessary, water was pumped from four boreholes to ensure the survival of some aquatic flora and fauna until the monsoon.

In addition to the many birds, the park also offered a home to other critters. There are no large predators, but there are monkeys, small carnivores, ungulates such as deer, & feral cattle. And there are reptiles including snakes, pythons, & lizards, & some 50 species of fish.

However, things began to unravel for the park in late 2004 when the Rajasthan government succumbed to pressure from area farmers to prevent precious water from being diverted to the sanctuary. [In one incident, police had to break up angry protests at the dam by farmers who were enraged to learn that the local government had opened sluice gates to release water into the park. Since then, no dam water has been released to the park, which critics say is due to the fact that, unlike birds, farmers can vote.] The water supply dropped drastically & the result was an ecological disaster. The marshlands dried up & most of the birds were forced to seek alternate areas. The decision was criticized by leading environmentalists which led a Public Interest Litigation being filed in court. I’m not sure what the outcome of that was, all I know is that the park was very quiet when we were there (in high season) & the ponds were few. The pumps were running but there’s not nearly the water they need.

So before you make big plans to visit this site, this recent news story (Feb/07) aptly recaps the bleak future of the park because of the lack of water. Years of poor monsoon rains, compounded by severe pressure from local farmers who need what little rain water is dammed to irrigate their fields, have left most of the marshes dry with only a few ponds nursed by a small network of pumps sucking up groundwater. This has forced most of the migratory birds that once descended on the park every year for the winter to go elsewhere. [Here’s the story. Sorry, you will have to copy & paste the link. http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=DEL95384]

Although the park has not yet been added to the United Nations' endangered list, the committee did warn the park in 2005 that if the park continues to dry up, it will lose its status as a World Heritage site. (When India succeeded in getting Keoladeo listed as a World Heritage site in 1985, it promised to look after the unique wetlands for the benefit of humanity.) Sadly, India is failing in that undertaking & word is spreading, especially on travel websites. As a result, visitor numbers are way down. "No water, no birds, no tourists," is a common complaint from the rickshaw wallahs & area hoteliers.

If you are in the area, by all means, do stop by, hire a cycle rickshaw or rent a bike, & go for a leisurely ride in the park. It is still a peaceful oasis & you will see some birds & wildlife, just not as many as before the recent crisis. Nearby places of interest you may wish to visit while in the area are - the Bharatpur Palace, the Lohagarh Fort, the the Deeg Fort/Palace 32k from Bharatpur.

The park’s official web site incl a photo gallery: http://www.knpark.org/