PONG WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
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Context
- The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has issued a draft notification declaring a one-kilometer area from the boundaries of the Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary in Kangra district as an Eco-Sensitive Zone.
Details
- Commercial activity like the construction of hotels, resorts, or any kind of polluting industry will not be allowed in the eco-sensitive zone around the Pong Dam sanctuary.
- The notification also prohibits the laying of overhead electric or communication towers in Eco Sensitive Zone.
- The establishment of Saw Mills, brick kilns, or commercial use of firewood would be banned in the area.
In a nutshell,
- Commercial activities like the construction of hotels and resorts or any polluting industry will not be allowed in the eco-sensitive zone.
- Setting up of electric or communication towers will be prohibited.
- The establishment of sawmills, brick kilns or commercial use of firewood will be banned.
- Thousands of villages in Kangra will be affected if the notification is implemented.
Pong Dam Lake
- Pong Dam Lake (also known as Maharana Pratap Sagar) is a manmade reservoir formed due to the construction of Pong Dam on Beas River in the wetland zone of Shivalik hills in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.
- The Pong Dam is the highest earth fill dam in India and was constructed in 1975.
- Pong Dam Lake was designated a Ramsar site in 2002 under the Ramsar criteria 5 and 8.
- This lake is one of the best Bird’s Paradise in the world.
- The reservoir is bounded by the rugged Dhauladhar mountain range, the low foothills of the Himalaya on the northern edge of the Indo-Gangetic plains.
PRACTICE QUESTION Q. Consider the following statements: 1.Maharana Pratap Sagar is a manmade reservoir. 2.It was designated a Ramsar site in 2002. 3.Setting up of electric or communication towers is prohibited around a one-kilometer area of the reservoir. How many of the above statements is/are incorrect? A) Only 1 B) Only 2 C) All 3 D) None Answer: D) None |