By Abhinash Chaudhary

Dhangadhi, Mar. 22: Situated at Himmatpur village in Ward 7 of Bhajani Municipality, Puraina Lake was beautiful and also a habitat for Sarus once. But the lake has now dried up and turned into an agricultural swathe of land.

Along with Sarus, the lake hosted migratory birds until it had water. Those birds have now changed their routes.
“After the Puraina Lake dried up, some families have been using the area for cultivating crops,” said Khoj Ram Chaudhary, a local. “The lake is now a once-upon-a-time story. There are no traces of the lake.”
The lake had occupied around 60 to 70 hectares of land and started drying up since 2008. As per the locals, it all started when there was overflow of the flood in Mohana River.
Conservationist Bijaya Raj Shrestha said that by 2012 the lake had turned into an arable land.
“As the lake started drying up, encroachment of the land began. After 2012, the lake is nowhere to be seen,” added Shrestha.
Locals from Charra village are said to have encroached the land. The land is, however, being cultivated by locals of Himmatpur under share system with the encroachers.
“We are given 50 per cent of share on cultivated goods by the ones who say own the land,” said Khusi Ram Chaudhary, a local who has been cultivating crops in the dried land of Puraina lake.
Recently, wheat is nearly ready to be harvested while some farmers have cultivated Chaite rice in the land.
Puraina Lake was an important wildlife crossing, structure that allows animals to cross human-made barriers safely, and was near the Dudhuwa National Park which is situated in northern parts of Uttar Pradesh, India.
According to locals, wildlife like tigers and elephants used to cross through the lake.
“Since the concerned stakeholders did not take any necessary step, the lake went out of existence,” said Khum Bahadur Khadka, chairman of Radhakrishna Community Forest.
Along with Radhakrishna, there are Banjariya, Telaha, Kailali and 12 other community forests fall nearby Puraina Lake.
“We also held talks with the Indian side to protect and conserve the wildlife crossings, but nothing happened. I was physically attacked while raising voice for the lake’s conservation,” said Khadka.
Conservationists argue that afforestation in the dried up area of Puraina Lake and nearby areas could restore the wildlife crossings and assist the wildlife.
The Kailali district is a home to numbers of lakes, but many like Puraina are on the verge of drying up.
Bhakraiya Lake, which is situated in Ward 4 of Bhajani Municipality, has also turned into an arable land. Locals have been using the land for agriculture here as well.