In a bid to provide pollution-free environment to bird species living in Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh Forest Department has decided to ban the entry of vehicles inside the sanctuary from November 1. Forest Authority will provide battery operated rickshaw service for the visitors to go inside the sanctuary.
The move comes after repeated complaints of obscene activities taking place inside the vehicles parked inside the sanctuary. Also, the department is installing CCTV cameras in and around the sanctuary to monitor such activities.
Official said that the place was becoming a secluded picnic spot where visitors consumed alcohol and smoked cigarettes inside their vehicles and then they threw the wine bottles, cans and other wrappers inside the sanctuary that were polluting the place and affecting the habitat of the birds. Most of this rubbish eventually falls into the river.
“We conducted checking drives inside the sanctuary to stop such activities. The people, who were caught on the spot, were handed over to the local police,” Ishwar, Range Forest Officer, Noida told the Pioneer.
“Chief Forest Officer Mukesh Kumar has given a direction to ban entry of any vehicles inside the sanctuary from November 1,” Forest officer said.
“Kalidikunj and Noida gates would be closed and the vehicles would be parked outside. Visitors would be allowed to enter the sanctuary only after proper checking. We will provide battery operated rickshaw service. The activities of visitors would be monitored by CCTV surveillance,” he added.
“It is a good initiative to protect wildlife birds surviving in the bird sanctuary. At least the birds could breathe in pollution-free environment. The Okhla bird area had become a picnic spot. However, the maintenance of the sanctuary is still poor,” Vikarant Tongad, environment activist, said.
The Okhla Bird Sanctuary, spread out over 4 square kilometers, is one of the 466 important bird areas in India. Around 500 species of birds in this sanctuary make it the world’s second most bird-rich city after Kenya’s Capital Nairobi. There are only two security guards posted at the two ends of the sanctuary.