Once a favourite lay over for migratory birds during the winter season, the Okhla Bird Sanctuary, this time, is virtually empty. Poor habitat management coupled with the construction of a two-lane road right inside the sanctuary has driven away winged visitors from the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. The place, which is already witnessing a fall in the number of birds visiting it, has seen the count fall further this winter. Usually by this time, the sanctuary witnesses an influx of nearly 2,000-3,000 birds, but this time the count has fallen alarmingly, roughly to a thousand or even less.
Subjected to repeated exploitation in every form, the Okhla Bird Sanctuary now cuts a sorry picture. Once home to as many as 30 species of migratory birds (between October and November), which is supposedly the peak time for arrival of birds, the sanctuary is now host to only 13 species of winter birds apart from four species of South Asian birds.
In fact, many more species of migratory birds in massive flocks of thousands have arrived at other prominent wetlands in the Delhi NCR region which include Sultanpur National Park, Basai Wildlife Sanctuary and the Najafgarh Drain. While the winged visitors are clearly giving the Okhla Bird Sanctuary a miss this time, more species of winter migratory birds are still expected to arrive in the other wetlands.
The reasons for this unpleasant outcome are many, say environmentalists. To start with the management, this time, delayed the routine cleaning of the water bodies which, ideally, is carried out in the lean months of July and August.
“The staff of the sanctuary is cleaning the hyacinth on the wetlands now which is disturbing the birds. This task should have been carried out during the summers and not now when all the migratory birds flock into the region. Owing to this, the eastern side (towards Noida) of the sanctuary has seen very small flocks of migratory ducks,” said TK Roy, Delhi’s co-coordinator of the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) and a noted ecologist. Among the four species of seasonal ducks, the sanctuary, so far, is home to 50 Common Teals, 20 Gadwals, 40 Northern Shovelers and around 30 Common Coots.
Similar is the case in the western side of the sanctuary, which has undergone massive changes with a two-kilometre long road running along its boundary. “Because of constant vehicular movement, the few birds which otherwise used to settle on the western end (towards Jamia Milia) have now shifted to the middle of the sanctuary making it very difficult for birdwatchers to spot them,” added Roy. Tiny flocks of Graylag Geese, Common Pochard, Eurasian Wigeon can now be seen only in the middle of the lagoon-like sanctuary. The road which is now serving as a shortcut link for movement from Delhi to Noida was created by the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department to build a bund in order to prevent flooding.
On a larger perspective, global climate change has also impacted the migration pattern of winter migratory birds, added environmentalists. This is another reason why there is late migration and lesser diversity in species coupled with smaller numbers of these birds.
Out of 13 species that have arrived, two species, namely, Black-tailed Godwit which is a threatened species and Ruff have already left the sanctuary, whereas, only a few Pied Avocet are left over.