SIGNIFICANCE OF PONG WETLAND:

The wetland has an immense untapped potential for bird watching,camping, water sports, nature/heritage tourism and other multifarious recreational activities.Rare species of waterfowls such as Bar headed geese, Red necked grebes, white fronted geese, wooly-necked storks and larks have been recorded in the wetland. Bar headed geese visiting pong in large number constitutes more than 45 % of the world population. This makes the Pong wetland, the largest single congregation destination for Bar headed geese not only in India but also in the world. The Red headed grebe was recorded from this reservoir for the first time in India during 1992.

The wetland provides comforts, environmental stimulation and the kind of tranquility, the tourists look for. Four beautiful islands inside the lake offer temptations to feel them closely and enjoying the nature. It is a unique wetland whose potential has yet not been exploited at all. The fully developed wetland will not only be the dream habitat for million of birds but also a dream destination for million of national and international tourists with immense revenue generation potential of several billion rupees.

Places of cultural and mythological importance in and around pong add significant and spiritual value to the wetland. The wetland can be a source of inspiration for the poets and artists alike.

Prior to the impoundment of the river Beas, a subsistence fishery of inconsequential nature existed in the river and adjoining streams and the average catch hardly exceeded 2-4 Kg per fishermen per day, but with the creation of the Pong reservoir, a lucrative fishery started attracting large number of fishermen and the oustees who had no other viable means of livelihood. The commercial fishing in the reservoir started soon after. The total catch during the first year of fishing operation was 98 Metric tonnes and has increased progressively till 1987-88 when it attained a peak of 779  metric tonnes. During 2003-04, the fish production, however declined to 307 Metric tonnes, which fetched a revenue of Rs 3 million to the Govt. The catches of  Mahasheer  in the reservoir has shown remarkable consistency during the last 10 years. The highest catches of mahasheer were recorded during 1997-98. Pong dam is probably the only reservoir in the country, which provides opportunity of Mahasheer angling.

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