Bhanjang Lake Revived at Margaret's Hope Tea Garden

Everything is possible, you only need to want it badly enough. No one knows this better than the Gorabari-Margaret’s Hope gram panchayat members who proved themselves by breathing life into a lake that was lying dead in the vicinity for a long time.

Nearly 15 km from Kurseong town lies Bhanjyang Lake, at about three kilometres down NH 55, in Margaret’s Hope gram panchayat area.

The lake was constructed in 1947-48 by one Mr L Helogon, the then manager of Margaret’s Hope tea estate. In 1955, an accident occurred in which a boy was drowned while boating on the lake. Panic spread among the villagers and they gradually stopped venturing near it. The lake thus lay unattended and before long, got converted into a swamp.

People gathered around Bhanjyang Lake once again in 1968, but only to deal with the disastrous landslide that occurred in the area. The boat that drowned in 1955 was also found.
Efforts to revive the lake were launched in 2003 by the Gorabari-Margaret’s Hope gram panchayat pradhan, Jagat Sangbo. In 2005, Mr Sango was able to accomplish the uphill task, thanks to the hard work of the 23 gram panchayat members and other residents of the area. Bhanjyang Lake now looks clean and attractive, and is also situated in a picturesque location.
Such an enormous job would naturally require a lot of money. But according to the pradhan, it cost about Rs 60,000-Rs 70,000 only. This is because the panchayat members and others gave the project the gift of their labour.

Mr Sangbo informed that around 15,000 fish have been placed in the lake for breeding purposes. Bhanjyang Lake has also been home to several species of salamanders for a long time, he said. And to preserve these animals, a separate lake is being constructed beside this one.
In India, salamanders are found only in Manipur and Darjeeling. Elsewhere they are found in America and China. Salamanders are a rare species and are said to have originated from dinosaurs that existed on earth nearly 500 crore years ago. Students of science and forest officers frequent the lake as part of their research on these water creatures.

In the meanwhile, beautification of Bhanjyang Lake continues. Efforts are also on to see to it that it gets its rightful place in the tourist map of the region. We are trying our best to attract more and more tourists, said Mr Sangbo.