SON GHADIYAL WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

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Context

• National Green Tribunal directed the MoEF&CC to look into the question of declaring parts of river Son, running in both states, as 'Son Ghadiyal Wildlife Sanctuary' in accordance with law within 3 months.

About Son River

• It is a perennial river located in central India.
• The Sone River is the second-largest southern tributary of the Ganges after the Yamuna River.
• India's oldest river bridge Koilwar Bridge over Sone River connects Arrah with Patna.

Origin and course

• It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district of Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges River near Patna in Bihar.
• The Sone originates near Pendra in Chhattisgarh, just east of the headwater of the Narmada River, and flows north-northwest through Shahdol district in Madhya Pradesh state before turning sharply eastward where it encounters the southwest-northeast-Kaimur Range.
• The Sone parallels the Kaimur hills, flowing east-northeast through Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar states to join the Ganges just west of Patna.
• Geologically, the lower valley of the Son is an extension of the Narmada Valley, and the Kaimur Range an extension of the Vindhya Range.
• Arwal, Daudnagar, Deori, Rohtasgarh, Dehri, Sonbhadra and Bihta are some of the major cities situated on Sone River.

Etymology

• Sone River is a rare instance of an Indian river having masculine name. Damodar and Brahmaputra also have masculine name.

Other facts

• In Bihar, this river forms the border line between the Bhojpuri- and Magahi-speaking regions.

About Son Gharial Sanctuary

• It was established under Project Crocodile for Gharial conservation and population growth.
• An altogether length of 210 km encompassing lengths of 161 km of Son river, 23 km of Banas river, and 26 km of Gopad River was declared as a sanctuary in 1981.
• Sandy habitats (such as Sand banks, riverine islands etc) are major habitats for many endangered species like Gharial, Indian Soft Shell Turtle (Chitra Indica), Indian Skimmer (Rynchops albicollis) etc.
• About 101 species of birds registered in the sanctuary make it rich in aquatic and avifaunal biodiversity.