A four-day awareness campaign on conservation of the house sparrow was inaugurated at Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya by its Registrar, Professor Vinod Kumar. The programme is also being run in the city and rural areas of the district.
A short film on sparrow conservation was shown by a scientist from Uttarakhand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Vinay Sethi. In his presentation, Sethi spoke on how the house sparrow can be saved and conserved in years to come.
Speaking on the occasion, Vinod Kumar said, “The number of house sparrows is constantly on a decline and to save this bird species, the Department of Zoology and Environmental Science of Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya has undertaken many initiatives so that the sparrow can also get proper space for nesting.”
Environmentalist VP Upadhyay spoke on the importance of the sparrow in maintaining ecological balance. “The Gauraiya is an important component of our ecosystem which eats harmful insects and saves our crops from damage. Many medicinal plants were conserved in our ecosystem just because of this one bird-Gauraiya but it is sad that the population of this bird is fast dwindling from our vicinity and surroundings.”
Noted ornithologist and founder of ‘Gauraiya Abhiyan’ Dinesh Bhatt said, “The wildlife is not encroaching on the space of the human beings but people have encroached upon the space of the wildlife which has resulted in human wildlife conflict.” He cautioned the bird lovers that in the coming times, many other bird species could be on the verge of extinction.
Zoology and Environmental Science head of Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Professor DS Mallik said that different contests shall be organised for the students during the four-day campaign.