Okhla Bird Sanctuary dry for over 20 days; migration of birds affected

The Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS) in Noida has remained dry since the past 20 days, to facilitate annual repair work, and the lack of water seems to have impacted the arrival of winter migratory birds with fewer visitors turning up at the park till November 10, said birders and park officials

The Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS) in Noida has remained dry since the past 20 days, to facilitate annual repair work, and the lack of water seems to have impacted the arrival of winter migratory birds with fewer visitors turning up at the park till November 10, said birders and park officials.

Noida, India - November 12, 2022: A view of a dried-up Okhla Bird Sanctuary. Water birds are flying away from the area due to the wetland drying up be because of repair work at the Delhi to Agra canal, in Noida, India, on Saturday, November 12, 2022. (Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times) (To go with Snehil’s story) (Hindustan Times)

The water to the park was stopped and the wetland area dried up to facilitate a canal repair work undertaken by the irrigation department. Officials in the know of the matter said this is routine maintenance work and is carried out every year between October 15 and November 15. But unlike the previous years, when water to the park is stopped only for a few days, the work this year was more extensive and needed the water to be stopped for a longer period, officials said.

“The water inlet gates needed more repair work; the rubber seal had to be replaced and greasing and oiling work had to be done. This is done throughout the state at this time of the year as irrigation water is not required by farmers during this one month. We usually finish by November 15, but this time, there was more work to be done,” said Binod Kumar Singh, executive engineer, irrigation department.

Officials said the repairs are expected to be completed by Tuesday, when water will be allowed back into the park, after a gap of nearly 20 days.

“We hope to release the water by Tuesday evening and it will take about four days for the park’s water body to completely fill up,” said Singh.

With winter approaching, this is usually the time when migratory birds start coming in and nesting near wetlands and water bodies. However, no new migratory bird can be seen at OBS so far this year as there is no water in the area.

“The migratory birds seem delayed this year owing to the weather conditions and lack of water in the area. We are seeing fewer migratory birds. However, we expect the count to increase once it gets a bit colder,” said PK Srivastava, divisional forest officer.

Experts said most migratory birds that visit Delhi-NCR look for water bodies in the vicinity as that ensures availability of food such as fish, worms and insects. A habitat that has remained dried for almost a month will keep birds away, sometimes even for the rest of the season, they said.

“It’s mid-November and most species should have started arriving in good numbers by now. However, since this habitat is dry, it has had an adverse impact on the arrival of birds as they fly beyond the Okhla park looking for alternative places to roost. The problem is that such repair work is becoming a recurring issue. Even last year, the reservoir was dry for long and the result was disastrous. Migratory birds found alternative spots and eventually OBS had very few avian visitors last year,” said Jaswinder Waraich, regular birder in NCR.

Experts said once the water flow is restored, there is no guarantee that birds will find the habitat attractive so late in the season. Additionally, once the birds find better alternatives and know that this habitat is unreliable, most birds might stop coming to OBS permanently.

The Okhla Bird Sanctuary is spread across 400 hectares and covers part of the Yamuna banks on the Delhi-Noida border. Officials claim that around 20,000 birds of over 70 species visit the sanctuary every year, though birders say the numbers are exaggerated.