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Okhla Bird Sanctuary gets infra upgrade
Noida: As the birding season begins, the forest department has started upgrading infrastructure at Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS) to attract more visitors to the city’s
Noida: As the birding season begins, the forest department has started upgrading infrastructure at Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS) to attract more visitors to the city’s only eco-sensitive zone. The department has decided to develop a public centre, make toilets for the differently abled and convert abandoned boats into sitting decks, among other measures.
The bird sanctuary,which is home to over 300 species of migratory and resident birds, had attracted over 25,000 visitors last birding season of 2018-19. Officials said that the work of installing more benches had been almost completed, while agencies are being selected for developing infrastructures like interpretation centre, control room, cameras and building toilets for the differently abled.
The officials said that to attract families, the sanctuary has converted three abandoned boats into sitting decks facing the lake.
“Three large boats being used for patrolling the lake earlier were beyond repair. These boats were just lying as junk. On a number of inspections, we were asked to dispose them of. Rather than throwing them away, we developed them into sitting decks that have been named ‘family spots’. The decks are being placed along different spots by the lake,” said Arvind Mishra, regional forest officer and head of the OBS.
According to the forest officials, other works will be completed within the current winter birding season at the OBS that is spread across an area of 400 hectares.
“A public agency will develop the infrastructure. Since it’s an eco-sensitive zone, the old structures will be redesigned into a two-storey interpretation centre that will have information related to the species of birds at the sanctuary. There will also be a control room that will have a live feed of the lake on screens. A toilet will be separately constructed keeping in mind the needs of the specially abled visitors. The only challenge is to do the work in such a way that the birds are not disturbed,” said Pramod Kumar Srivastava, divisional forest officer.
In October this year, the OBS had the hyacinth cleared from the lake area, and reused to create a total of 15 mounds, which will be stopped from floating using bamboo and wooden logs. The mounds offer a comfortable space to the birds for foraging and resting. Apart from that, 20 platforms were knitted using bamboo, a few inches above the water for roosting, resting and preening.
“During the birding season of 2018-19, we saw over 24,000 birds, the highest number since 2015. The figure for 2017-18 was 17,000. We expect more numbers this year and thus customising the habitats or rather say improving the habitat to cater to their needs,” said Srivastava.
