Page 98 - Sonbeel Utsab 2024

SONE BEEL: A GLOBAL TREASURE
Animekh Hazarika; Arun Jyoti Nath
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, Silchar,
India

Wetlands are highly diverse and productive systems that comprise a
distinctive feature of the world's geography. These provide enormous ecosystem
services, including serving as biodiversity flood regulation reservoirs with promising
potential to conserve socio-economic and livelihood security. Wetlands also serve as
a significant carbon sequester and play an essential role in C sink management
relative to other terrestrial ecosystems. Sone Beel, a southern Assam pearl, exhibits
unique geographical attributes with multidimensional services.
Origin and Physiography of Sone Beel
The Sone Beel (Shon Beel) is located in the Karimganj district of Assam,
North-east India. Geographically, Sone Beel lies between 24°40′00″ N and
92°26′10″ E (Fig. 1), having a total area of 3458.12 ha at the full storage level (FSL)
and shrinks to 409.37 ha at the dead storage level (DSL). The length and breadth of
Sone Beel range from 12.5 km and 3.9 km at FSL and are reduced to 4.07 km and 2.22
km, respectively, at DSL. River Singla is the central inlet originating in Mizo Hills,
which is responsible for 80% of the water of Sone Beel. River Kachua is the primary
outlet of Sone Beel; it drains the lake water into the bigger river called Kushiara. The
length of the shoreline was estimated at 35.4 km with a mean depth of 0.29 m. Out of
the total of 3458 ha of land, the cultivable land during winter is around 2700 ha
(78%), followed by beel fisheries 485 ha (14%), fisheries 174 ha (5%) and wasteland
99 ha (3%) (Das and Bhattacharjee, 2015). Summer and winter views of the wetland
are shown in Fig. 2 & 3.

Socio-economic status of the floodplain people
Around 100 villages surround the wetland, with more than 50,000 people
directly dependent on it for their livelihood through fishing and paddy cultivation
(Fig. 4 &5). More than 35,000 families are engaged in fishing for their livelihood,
while 500 families are engaged in the net making and fish marketing network. In
addition, about 300 households entirely depend on boat services during tourist
season. The average monthly household income is INR 5197, ranging from INR 500
to 60000. The households' mean landholding size was recorded at 0.71 acres.

Biodiversity Status
Fish diversity
A total of 69 fish species belonging to 49 genera, 24 families and 11 orders
have been recorded in Sone Beel. Among the fish species, 20 are widely distributed,
while eight are native to northeastern India. Moreover, 7 species are migratory, and
57 are classified as plain water groups. However, the population of Gudusia chapra,
90