As funds go dry, nature steps in to revive Okhla bird park

NOIDA: FOLLOWING HEAVY RAINFALL OVER NORTH INDIA, HARYANA RELEASED WATER SEVERAL TIMES INTO THE YAMUNA, WHICH HELPED IN CLEANING IT

The Okhla Bird Sanctuary in Noida has been in a shambles for years with no funds allotted for its upkeep and maintenance, till it was cleaned up a couple of months ago.

A budget proposal of ₹99 crore for upkeep of the park, made earlier this year, was reduced to ₹9.5 crore after multiple rounds of discussions. But the decision came too late and the funds could not be released before the migratory birds started coming for their winter sojourn.

But where officials failed, nature delivered —in the form of hearty rainfall.

Following heavy rainfall over north India this year, Haryana released water several times into the Yamuna from its Hathni Kund barrage. This led to near flooding situations in DelhiNCR around the Yamuna banks.

On the bright side, it helped clean the polluted Yamuna.

“The filthy and stinking Yamuna was repelling many bird species. However, this year, we are seeing that the water is much clearer, cleaner and there is no foul odour. We are hoping to get more birds,” a forest department official at the Okhla bird sanctuary said

Officials, regular birders as well as visitors say Okhla is one of the most important bird habitats in the region. However, the maintenance of the area has raised concerns.

“Okhla is disturbed and polluted, but that doesn’t take away from its importance as a bird habitat. There is no other large habitat in this region along a riverbed. Other habitats, though better kept, are smaller and are mostly near lakes,” K B Singh, founder of the Delhi birders group, said. He said it is essential to reduce disturbances, safeguard the area from encroachment and maintain it as a clean and natural bird habitat. While officials agree that better maintenance is required, efforts to do so were not seen until recently. Before September, the sanctuary remained uncleaned for three years in a row. The staff said miscreants often find nooks in the sanctuary for their nightly liquor parties. The lone bamboo bridge leading to the two watch towers inside the park was broken and was recently mended. The water hyacinth has been removed and used as natural mounds or little islands for the birds to nest.

“The Okhla bird sanctuary is in a poor shape and hasn’t been maintained for years. While birding, I prefer to walk alongside the river outside the sanctuary rather than sticking within its boundaries. There are better chances of spotting birds that way,” Jaswinder Waraich, a birder, said.

Realising the need for maintenance, the forest department submitted an ambitious plan earlier this year to revive the sanctuary at a cost of ₹99 crore.

While the proposal was approved by the state government as well as ministry of forest environment and climate Change (MoEFCC), enough funds were not available with any of the agencies to be sanctioned for the park.

The department also approached Noida authority for funds but did not receive adequate support. According to a previous Supreme Court order, Noida authority is supposed to provide 5% of the total construction cost of the Dalit Prerna Sthal, located close to the Okhla park, for improving greenery. This works out to approximately ₹25 crore.

After much deliberations, a total budget was reduced to ₹9.5 crore. While this budget has been approved, it has not been sanctioned yet, officials said.

“We have tried to do whatever we could with our internal budget. Now, the migratory birds have started arriving and we cannot disturb or interfere with their habitat with any cleaning or other activity,” P K Srivastava, divisional forest officer, said.

“Our MP, Dr Mahesh Sharma, took personal interest and tried to get the funding approved in a timely manner. He also helped with the maintenance work and reviewed it periodically. We are hoping to improve the facilities by next year,” Srivastava said. Bharatiya Janata Party Bahujan Samaj Party Trinamool Congress

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

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