Spl teams to safeguard migratory birds on land, water in Prayagraj
PRAYAGRAJ: The Forest department has formed nine teams throughout the Prayagraj district to protect migratory birds—primarily Indian Skimmers that arrive in the district, especially at Sangam and surrounding areas—and other aquatic and bird species.
The department has also decided to undertake a special campaign to protect these birds in areas like Phaphamau, Shringverpur, Daraganj and Sangam by making locals aware of the need to protect these feathered visitors, officials said.
The surveillance, which commenced from November 15 and will continue till February end, will involve forest department teams patrolling land areas on foot and over the water by boats. The team will not only be safeguarding the migratory birds but their nesting sites as well, the officials said.
Prayagraj district forest officer (DFO) YP Shukla said, “These migratory birds arrive in large numbers during the winter season at Sangam and many clusters can be spotted on the banks of both the Ganga and the Yamuna. Keeping in mind their safety, it has been decided to constitute teams which would keep a strict vigil over the birds, day and night.”
These teams have been formed in all the nine ranges that fall under the forest department of the district. These include Prayag, Phulpur, Koraon, Shankargarh, Soraon and Meja among others. “The teams are inspecting different areas and protecting not only the migratory birds but also aquatic wildlife found in these areas,” said Shukla.
Describing the Indian Skimmer (Rynchops albicollis), the official said that a thick, orangeyellow bill with a slightly longer lower mandible (jaw) is one of its most striking features.
“Their population is declining, primarily due to the degradation of wetland and river habitats. Once distributed across the Indian Subcontinent, Indian Skimmers are now mainly found along large rivers in India and Bangladesh with some presence in Pakistan and Nepal too,” said Shukla.
“The Indian Skimmer is a globally threatened river bird which breeds on River Islands. Its main breeding ground is the River Chambal of National Chambal Sanctuary. Recent records also show breeding colonies along the Ganga in UP and the Mahanadi in Orissa,” said Wildlife Institute of India (Dehradun) senior researcher Ankit, who has done extensive work on Indian Skimmers in the district.
He adds, “This bird is categorised as “vulnerable” in International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list and is threatened because of the habitat loss and multiple anthropogenic pressures such as encroachment on river Islands for agriculture, flooding of river islands, depredation of eggs and fledglings and livestock depredation.” Recently, efforts of the Ganga task force too have come as a boon for protecting and conserving the biodiversity and these birds. The task force regularly patrols areas in the district where the birds are found as well as where they nest.