Host of bird sightings lighten the mood at Rabindra Sarovar post pollution panic
Kolkata: The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), custodian of the sprawling Rabindra Sarovar, had some good news to share on Monday after some species of birds were sighted in the Safari Park located inside the premises of the Sarovar.
The bird sightings at the sprawling national lake assumes significance as a section of environmentalists have been vocal about pollution of the waterbody and alleged that its biodiversity will be badly affected due to the rituals of Chhath Puja performed inside the Sarovar premises.
They had alleged that the sound of firecrackers used during the Puja would drive the birds away from the lake and its surroundings.
The birds were photographed by a member of the group named 'Biodiversity of Rabindra Sarovar' between 3 to 5 pm on Sunday, a few
hours after the Chhath Puja rituals were performed by
hundreds of devotees who flouted the orders of the National Green Tribunal and performed puja in the sprawling national waterbody on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.
Birds like Asian paradise flycatcher, tickell's thrush, hill myna, verditer flycatcher, taiga flycatcher, orange headed thrush, spotted owlet, tailorbird, blue throated barbet, oriental magpie robin, lesser flameback woodpecker and black drongo were sighted.
It may be mentioned that the gates of the Safari Park were closed and the Chhath devotees did not enter inside it. A section of environmentalists, however, cried foul on Monday after some dead fishes and a carcass of a tortoise were found floating in the water. They alleged that pollution caused by the puja activities performed in the water have resulted in the deaths.
"We cannot deny that puja performed by a section of devotees has caused water pollution. But it is not correct to attribute the death of the fishes and the tortoise to the pollution of the water at this juncture," a senior official of KMDA said.
The West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has already collected water sample to assess the quality of water in the Sarovar after Chhath Puja.
"Our team has collected samples of water on Sunday afternoon. It will take three to four days for compilation of the report," said Rajesh Kumar, Member Secretary of WBPCB.
It may be mentioned that cleaning of the waterbody was taken up immediately and flowers, garlands, leaves and plastic debris that were dumped in the water by the devotees were removed.
"Bird sightings have surely made us happy. But we apprehend that the sound caused by bursting of crackers may have frightened the great
cormorants that usually migrate by this time and take shelter at the islands of the Sarovar. They breed here during the winter," said a member of the bird watchers group in Kolkata.