Okhla Bird Sanctuary

Okhla Bird Sanctuary was notified in 2002 and is a home to a large variety of migratory birds in the winter season. It is located on the wet lands of Yamuna river in between NOIDA in UP and Delhi. I have been a frequent visitor to this sanctuary since its inception and even before that. It used to be a treat to walk around the sanctuary in the morning hours and see all the birds in their natural surroundings. The watch towers were located at a good spot and gave unrestricted view of the whole wetland. The walk over the bamboo bridge to go to the watch tower was an entirely new experience. The information board on the roads gave details of all the migratory birds visiting the wetlands and was very informative. The broucher provided at the entrance was equally helpful and one did not mind paying the small entrance fee of Rs.10/= and now Rs.20/= per head and the Rs.100/= entry fee for the car. Benches provided at various place not only helped in taking rest but also gave a view of the wetland for observing the birds and suitable places for photography enthusiasts. It was also a good place to spread your mats and take a picnic lunch break for the whole family in the nature’s lap. It was here that my granddaughters saw their first migratory bird. One could go there in the evening also but mornings were the best for bird watching.

All this changed sometime in 2006 and later with the construction of Prerna Sthal by the then chief minister Mayawati. The noise and the constant arrival of trucks, the hammering of drill,  the noise of the saws and the human noise forced these migratory birds to change their annual pilgrimage to this place. The number and type of birds decreased considerably. The sighting of the birds became rarer and rarer and some of the birds stopped coming all together. Only the information board provided an insight into what this sanctuary   was in earlier days. Of course the morning die hard walkers continued but the birds changed their habitat. It was the start of the decline of this once beautiful bird sanctuary. Of course one cannot compare it to the Bharatpur bird sanctuary but this sanctuary provided the same enjoyment to the visitors as Bharatpur bird sanctuary. Now it is not even 5 % of what Bharatpur is and it is not even 10 % of what this sanctuary earlier was. Such is the greed of humans that they did not even stop to think about these poor winged creatures in depriving them of their habitat just to make a memorial and now to make a home for themselves. It is true that we humans have not learned to live in peace with nature and its other inhabitants. We do not share but we forcibly create for ourselves so as to deprive others of their natural habitat which they have been using for centuries. Sad but true.

The UP government did not specify the Eco- friendly zone for this area even after they declared it a bird sanctuary. This non specification prompted other government agencies to permit the construction of memorials, housing projects, commercial areas very close to this sanctuary and this further led to the decline of migratory birds. Nobody ever thought about these poor winged creatures and their habitat. The greed of money in the name of development was so strong that it overrode all objections from the nature lovers and environmentalists. Even the Supreme Court refused to entertain a PIL for stopping all this construction activity of the memorial. Successive government whether in state or in center only talked about protecting the environment but did little to protect it on ground and used all used their powers to destroy it. In hindsight one gets the impression that probably all this was done deliberately in the name of development to enhance the government and their personal wealth of some persons. Some skeleton are now tumbling out but a majority will never come out probably.

In order to overcome the tough decision of the National Green Tribunal of a 10 km radius of eco- friendly zone the state government submitted a proposal which has now been notified by the central government by restricting the Eco- friendly zone to just barely 1.7 km in the north and a pathetic 100 meters on all other sides. This 100 meters does not even cover the wetland fully and a large portion of it towards NOIDA is outside the Eco- friendly zone. It even does not cover the road which forms a bund on this wetland and the gate of the sanctuary.  It is death warrant being issued by the central government for the once famous Okhla Bird sanctuary. It would have been better if the government has de-notified this sanctuary to a bird park only rather than coming out with this pathetic, and anti- migratory bird’s notification. At least then this will not be quoted as a precedent in other sanctuaries and their sanctity would still be preserved. This notification may start a spate of other similar notification if human greed and the builder’s lobby have their say. Surely after the few years the only thing left in the sanctuary will be the ever decreasing wetlands and we will be forced to raise another memorial there in honor of the migratory birds which once used to make this as their habitat. The other question is whether the forest department should now maintain it as sanctuary, spent government money on it and charge entry fee for it when an individual cannot even enter the eco- friendly zone even what to talk about the sanctuary.