Winged guests

Migratory birds that have been visiting the village of Magadi for 15 years have finally caught the attention of forest conservationists.

Come winter, Magadi, a village 26 km away from Gadag is thronged by hundreds of birds from across the globe. The chirping of birds can be heard as one nears the village. The Magadi tank, spread over an area of 134 acres is a riot of colours, with variety of birds gathered around it. These migratory birds from different parts of the world, have made it a habit to fly over to Magadi for the last 15 years, making the village their home from November to March. Their number is steadily increasing. The Magadi tank has now become a picnic spot which attracts a large number of nature lovers.

The tank has been developed at a cost of Rs 1 crore of which Rs 80 lakh was funded by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, while the rest of the funds have been provided by the Minor Irrigation Department of the state.

The village has a population of around 10,000 and the mainstay is agriculture. Though the migration of birds to the Magadi tank started over a decade ago, they seemed to be of little interest to the villagers.

The Deputy Conservator of Forests (Gadag), C G Hiremath, in his stint as a range forest officer, made the villagers realise the importance of these birds. Soon after, a village committee for protection of the bird sanctuary was formed. Hiremath ensured that a navagraha vana — a forest consisting of nine trees, each of which has its own speciality — came up on the tank bunds.

The Assistant Conservator of Forests (Gadag), Vijay Mohan Raj went a step ahead and decided to develop the tank into a tourist spot. The tank was fenced and roads and toilets were constructed. Special towers for bird viewing were erected. Check dams and farm ponds were built in the catchment area to ensure that the tank does not dry up. The work was completed in two years.

Paddy being their favourite, the birds move out of the tank in search of food every evening and return by midnight. They again fly out at 4 am, only to return after four hours, without disturbing the farmers.

Members of the Indian Birds Society have identified the visiting birds as the bar-headed goose, Brahminy duck, spotted-bill duck, black ibis, white ibis, northern shoveller, little Gibbs, little ring plover, common and wood sandpiper, painted stork, white-necked stork, yellow wagtail, red-wattled lapwing, paradise flycatcher, lorangi, black drongo, Eurasian spoonbill, grey and purple heron, ruddy shelduck and coot, among others. The bar-headed goose, some 4,000 of that species, dominates the show.

President of the Grama Pakshi Dhama Samiti, H L Balareddy along with Basavaraj Palled, another member of the committee, has formed a team of youngsters to develop and preserve the bird sanctuary.

Palled says the proposal for development of the tank and the surrounding area into a tourist spot, sent to the Department of Tourism of the Karnataka government, is collecting dust.

He also believes that the present officials in the Karnataka Forest Department should make arrangements to preserve the sanctuary. But, he adds, they do not seem to be interested.

Environmentalists in the region also feel that the state government has not done enough for the preservation of the bird sanctuary. The toilets are not in a usable condition while the villagers tend to damage the fence. Lack of maintenance and supervision has been affecting the tank adversely.