'Keoladeo bird sanctuary being choked'

Keoladeo bird sanctuary and the feathered friends that flock here may well go the way of the dodo if its lifeline - the water supply from the nearby Panchana dam - continues to be choked to "further political interests", environmentalists warn.

Keoladeo bird sanctuary and the feathered friends that flock here may well go the way of the dodo if its lifeline - the water supply from the nearby Panchana dam - continues to be choked to "further political interests", environmentalists warn.

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The fragile ecosystem of the unique water bird sanctuary, accorded the Unesco Wrld Heritage status, is facing extinction with the entire 11 sq km of wetland fast turning into a jungle.

This has forced the hundreds of species of exotic birds to leave their age-old habitat and their migratory numbers have dwindled from 70,000 to a paltry 5,000 in winter, honorary warden and secretary of Keoladeo Natural History Society Krishna Kumar said.

He said only the marshy land around the Keoladeo temple has water coming via tubewells, while taking a team of journalists on a tour around the dried up artificial lake over the weekend.

Kumar said, "if the wetland does not get water, it will become extinct and give a body blow to conservation efforts".

Bharatpur and the Keoladeo park had legal riparian rights to the Panchana dam water, but since it has been constructed upstream of the Gambhiri river in neighbouring Karauli district of Rajasthan, it has "stopped the natural flow of the river," he said.

"We shall be filing a writ petition in the Supreme Court soon to enforce our rights," the sanctuary warden said.