After birders’ opposition, UP govt halts work on road at Noida’s Okhla sanctuary
Last week, the irrigation department began constructing a 1-km approach road inside the sanctuary to access a crematorium located behind the park
The Uttar Pradesh irrigation department on Tuesday halted construction work on a road inside the Okhla Bird Sanctuary after birders and nature enthusiasts opposed the construction activity in the eco-sensitive zone, officials aware of the matter said.
The Okhla Bird Sanctuary in Gautam Budh Nagar is spread across 400 hectares along the Yamuna and is designated an IBA (important bird area) site. Notified as a bird sanctuary in 1990, the park is part of the Central Asian Flyway and according to birders, more than 20,000 birds of over 70 native and migratory species can be spotted at the site.
Last week, the irrigation department began constructing a 1-km approach road inside the sanctuary to access a crematorium located behind the park. However, birders objected, noting that any construction work and vehicle is prohibited from entering the sanctuary, and the ongoing work was thus a violation.
Yogesh Parashar, a birder who was among the complainants, said, “During my visit to the sanctuary on Sunday, I found some construction work going on and a cement mixer and water tank was at the site. Work of laying concrete over a 50-metre stretch was already complete, and when I enquired, workers there told me that they were repairing the stretch leading to the crematorium.”
Parashar said that security personnel later confirmed that the forest and irrigation departments had permitted the work, and thus construction material and vehicles were allowed inside the protected park.
The authorities said the work was necessary, keeping in mind the safety of visitors and locals.
Divisional forest officer (Gautam Budh Nagar) Pramod Srivastava said, “If timely repairs are not taken up, the embankment and the surrounding area will get damaged by an overflowing Yamuna. Who will be responsible in case a mishap happens?… However, now it has been temporarily stopped.”
However, when asked, Srivastava said he did not know about the legal status of the crematorium.
Irrigation department executive engineer BK Singh, meanwhile, said the road to the crematorium already runs through the sanctuary. “We were only carrying out some repairs. But now the work has been halted on the directions from the forest department,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, birders said that this is not the first time that the authorities have attempted to build the road to the crematorium.
“Many years ago, the authorities had attempted to lay a tiled path to the crematorium and we had moved the Supreme Court. A central empowered committee constituted by the Supreme Court had in 2006 given a ruling that the construction done had to be dismantled, and no new road could be constructed in the sanctuary in future,” said Parashar.
“The sanctuary should not have any construction within its boundaries. However, in the name of beautification, etc, ecology is being harmed. A good portion of Okhla park is occupied by a waterbody and only a limited space is available for people to walk on. The act of laying a pucca road inside is not acceptable as the construction work is disturbing the fauna. And once the path becomes functional, it will give full access to people to cross through the sanctuary to reach the crematorium,” said a Noida-based birder Mukund Kumar.