Once ubiquitous, house sparrows are nowhere in sight in the Tricity. There has been a sharp decline in sparrow population here with only few spots of sparrow sightings registered in the Tricity during an online survey.
In the first ever nation-wide survey "Citizen Sparrow" on house sparrows, the residents of the Tricity -- Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula -- have reported spotting small groups of house sparrows at about 17 different locations.
According to the survey conducted by Bombay Natural History Society, the house sparrows were sighted at only six locations in Chandigarh in the recent years.
The denizens of Chandigarh have reported sighting the house sparrows at Sector 18, Sector 22, Sector 47, Sector 31, Industrial Area Phase I and Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary.
As per the survey records, a group of less than five sparrows were sighted in these Sectors here while no nests were observed. In 25 sq km Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, a group of five to 30 sparrows was spotted between the years 2010-2012.
The population of house sparrows is also fast disappearing from the satellite townships of Panchkula and Mohali.
In Mohali, the residents have reported spotting the vanishing bird species at only four different locations including Phase X Sector 64 residential areas, Phase X Sector 67, Sector 71, lalru (Mohali) between the years 2010-2012.
While in Panchkula, house sparrows were spotted at seven locations -- including residential colony in Sector 2, societies in Mansa Devi Complex Sector-5 facing railway line, Sector 7, Sector 10, Sector 12 market, Sector 25 and Shakti Apartments Sector 14.
According to the survey, the sparrows were reported as missing from more locations after the year 2005. The survey also suggests that few sightings of nests here might mean that the population of sparrows continued to decline in the region.
In the survey, the residents of the Tricity have reported spotting a large number of sparrows from the year 2000-2004. And, the sparrows were mostly sighted in the residential areas and parks in the Tricity.
According to the environmentalists, there are multiple reasons for the decline in sparrows' population including changing human lifestyle, use of pesticides, radiations from mobile towers, noise pollution among others. Birds are intolerant of noise and birds nesting success is higher in quiet areas rather than urban areas which are noisy and full of activity.
The online survey "Citizen Sparrow" was a public participatory project conducted by Bombay Natural History Society in the year 2012 with the assistance of Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, and in association with the National Centre for Biological Sciences, the Nature Conservation Foundation and dozens of other partner organisations. The online survey saw the participation of 5,655 people in 8,425 locations across the country.