A lake at the edge of Guwahati is Assam’s only Ramsar site. It is also the city’s main storm-water basin.
This lesson covers what Deepor Beel is, what lives there, and what threatens it. It also covers the court orders and exam facts students mix up.
What is Deepor Beel, and where is it?
What kind of wetland is it?
Deepor Beel is a permanent freshwater lake. It lies in an old channel of the Brahmaputra river, south-west of Guwahati.
The Ramsar sheet places it about 10 km south-west of Guwahati, in Kamrup district. A beel is the Assamese word for a shallow floodplain lake.
The sheet calls it a large natural wetland of great biological importance.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, Deepor Beel.
What is its Ramsar status?
The sheet is dated 19 August 2002. It lists the area as 4,000 hectares and the elevation as 53 m above sea level.
The site is Ramsar Site No. 1207. A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, area and date.
Check 1
Deepor Beel lies in an old channel of the Brahmaputra river.
How deep is the water, and where does it come from?
At maximum flooding the lake is about 4 m deep. In the dry season the depth drops to about 1 m.
The main sources are the Basistha and Kalmani rivers, plus monsoon run-off from May to September.
The lake drains to the Brahmaputra, 5 km to the north, through the Khonajan channel. About half of the beel dries out in winter.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, water.
What plants cover the beel?
In summer a large part of the beel is covered by aquatic plants. They include water hyacinth, grasses and water lilies.
The highland areas dry out completely in winter. Even then, aquatic and semi-aquatic plants grow on them.
At the peak of the monsoon the water reaches the foothills and the national highway.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, plants.
What tiny animals live in the water?
Researchers found 21 genera of zooplankton in the beel. The main groups are cladocerans, copepods, rotifers and protozoans.
Zooplankton are tiny drifting animals that feed fish and young birds. The beel is richest in them before and during the monsoon.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, zooplankton.
What does the lake do for the city and for wildlife?
Why is it called the city’s storm-water reservoir?
The sheet calls it the only major storm-water storage basin for Guwahati. In the monsoon it works as a natural reservoir.
Without it, rain run-off from the city would have nowhere to go. That is why filling or building on the beel raises flood risk.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, flood role.
Check 2
The Ramsar sheet calls Deepor Beel the only major storm-water storage basin for Guwahati.
How many birds have been recorded?
A total of 219 bird species have been recorded. Of these, 70 are waterfowl.
The highest single-day count of waterbirds is 19,000. The beel is a staging site on migratory flyways, and the largest flocks come in winter.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, birds.
Which threatened birds live here?
The sheet lists globally threatened birds. They include the spot-billed pelican, lesser adjutant stork, greater adjutant stork, Baer’s pochard and white-bellied sea eagle.
These birds helped the site qualify under Ramsar criterion 2.
What about fish and other animals?
The beel supports 50 fish species from 19 families. Some breed naturally inside the beel.
The sheet also notes at least 20 amphibian, 12 lizard, 18 snake and 6 turtle species. Wild Asian elephants still visit.
Which fish are named in the sheet?
The sheet names singhi (Heteropneustes fossilis), the climbing perch Anabas testudineus, and the catfish Clarias batrachus and Wallago attu.
It also lists Mystus seenghala and Ompok bimaculatus.
These are local freshwater species. Many breed in the beel itself.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, fish names.
What plant crops does the beel give?
The beel gives water-lily nuts and flowers, sold in local markets. The seeds of the giant water lily, Euryale ferox, are leased out each year by the revenue department.
These plants are valuable natural crops for local families.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, plant crops.
Who depends on the lake?
The beel supports an important fishery. It gives a livelihood to many local families and supplies domestic water.
People also sell water-lily nuts and flowers. Local fishers report that catches are falling as the water degrades.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, livelihoods · India Water Portal, Deepor Beel.
What threatens the lake and the elephants?
What threats does the sheet list?
The first threat is a railway line along the southern boundary. Others are industry at the edge, brick-making and soil cutting inside the beel, and large-scale encroachment.
Hunting of wild birds and mammals is also listed. Illegal tree felling causes erosion, and silt then fills the beel.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, threats.
What was proposed for the city’s sewage?
The sheet warns about a government proposal to dig a canal from Guwahati to the beel. The canal would carry the city’s sewage.
The sheet says this would have disastrous effects on the wetland. It asks that sewage be treated before it enters the beel.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, sewage.
What fixes does the sheet suggest?
The sheet asks for more area under the bird sanctuary, including the highland. It also asks for planting to create breeding grounds for resident waterfowl.
It asks that land cutting, brick-making and industry be stopped in and around the beel.
What did the NGT say about trains?
In March 2019 the National Green Tribunal said trains must slow down in the elephant corridor. It noted that many elephants had died when hit by speeding trains.
It asked the railways for a long-term fix. The suggestion was an overpass or underpass designed by experts.
Sources: LiveLaw, NGT on trains.
What is the elevated rail plan?
Railway authorities plan a 4.7 km elevated rail corridor near the wetland. They say it will reduce elephant deaths on the Kamakhya-Jogighopa line.
Tree felling for the project has drawn concern from residents and conservationists.
Sources: India Water Portal, elevated corridor.
What was around the beel before the rail line?
Before the broad-gauge line was built, no railway passed through or near the beel. The only line was the Rangia-Guwahati line, which touches the Borhola beel to the north-east.
National Highway 37 runs along the east and north-east. Colleges, a hospital and new settlements now ring the edge.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, surroundings.
Check 3
The NGT suggested an overpass or underpass for the elephant corridor.
Which court orders and exam facts do students mix up?
What did the NGT order in 2020?
On 11 February 2020 the NGT told Assam to finish removing hydrophytes, or water weeds, from the beel. It also told the state to notify an eco-sensitive zone for the sanctuary within one month.
An eco-sensitive zone is a buffer area around a protected site.
Sources: NGT order, 11 Feb 2020.
What is the sanctuary’s legal story?
The state notified the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary on 21 February 2009. A single judge set that notification aside in December 2017.
A division bench later reversed the ruling, so the 2009 notification stands. The matter is now before the Supreme Court.
Sources: EastMojo, Gauhati High Court.
What did the High Court do in 2024?
The state Cabinet decided on 27 March 2024 to denotify the sanctuary. The petitioner told the Gauhati High Court about this.
The division bench then ordered the state not to issue any denotification. It cited the appeal pending in the Supreme Court.
Sources: EastMojo, Gauhati High Court order.
Check 4
The Gauhati High Court allowed the state to denotify the Deepor Beel sanctuary in 2024.
Which Ramsar criteria apply?
The sheet names criterion 4 as the most significant. It rests on the beel being a staging site on migratory flyways.
Criterion 2 covers the threatened birds. Criteria 7 and 8 cover the 50 fish species that use the beel for food, spawning and nursery.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, criteria.
How much has the beel shrunk?
The India Water Portal says the wetland once covered nearly 4,000 hectares and has since shrunk. Pressures include the Boragaon garbage dumping site.
It adds that more than 200 bird species depend on the ecosystem. Declining fish numbers already hurt local livelihoods.
Sources: India Water Portal, shrinking.
What should you remember?
Keep five anchors. The Ramsar sheet is dated 19 August 2002. The area listed is 4,000 hectares.
It is the storm-water basin of Guwahati. The bird list is 219 species. The main threat is the railway line along its southern edge.
Sources: Ramsar Information Sheet, summary.
Check 5
The Ramsar sheet lists a total of 219 bird species for Deepor Beel.
Check 6
The Ramsar sheet gives the area of Deepor Beel as 4,000 hectares.
MCQ on Deepor Beel
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