Kawar Tal

Kawar Tal is in Begusarai district of Bihar in India. It is and excellent wetland found in the flood plains, and is the largest freshwater lake in Northern Bihar. It lies between Burhi Gandak, Old Bhagmati and Kareh rivers. The lake is formed by the meandering action of Gandak River and is now a residual ox-bow lake.

In years of high rainfall, vast areas get flooded. It causes coalescing of wetlands and forms one huge expanse of water. During these times the wetlands of the Kawartal region may cover hundreds of square killometres. The floods leave behind deposits of sand, silt and clay in layers of varying thickness.

In years of average rainfall, Kawartal gets connected with Burhi Gandak (a tributary of River Ganga) and with nearby Nagri Jheel and Bikrampur chaurs, unite to form a lake of about 7400 ha. By late summer however, the water is confined to the deeper depressions and only about 300-400 ha of Kawartal remains flooded and cut off from the adjacent floodplains (chaurs). As the water level recedes, over 2800 ha of the exposed mudflats are converted into rice (paddy) fields.

In 1951, a drainage channel was excavated to expose additional areas for agricultural purposes, but the channel silted up in few years, and the lake reverted to its former condition. In recent years, further siltation of the overflow channel has resulted in slight fluctuation in water levels throughout the lake. There is a permanent island (Jaimangalgarh) of about 130ha in the Southeast corner of the lake. The Kawar and its adjoining lakes are probably oxbow lakes fed by highly meandering river, the Burhi Gandak that once flowed through these areas. As this lake area remains wet and submerged for a longer period, it has developed specially adopted wetland vegetation and organisms. The emergent, submerged and floating plants present some unique type or representative flora and fauna particularly of this lake and its adjoining areas. Hence, it is a spectacular wetland habitat and perhaps one of the largest freshwater inland wetlands in the country.