As India celebrated the National Bird Day, for the first time ever the bird census in Junglemahal area of West Bengal has started this month despite the fact that Saheb Bandh has failed to attract the winter winged guests.

The Union forest minister has urged to save wetlands to save birds in a message on Friday. Migratory birds have now become a part of history in and around the vast waterbody of historic Saheb Bandh. ‘Wings over Wetlands’, in his X handle, the Union forest minister Bhupendar Yadav has said on National Birds Day (5 January), “Where habitat, shelter, and a diverse menu await our avian companions – This #NationalBirdDay, join the movement to preserve the wetland ecosystems, ensuring a thriving future for our birds.

Wetlands provide habitat, shelter and diversity of food to the birds.” The historic Saheb Bandh in Purulia, which has bagged the status of national sarovar few years ago and has been cleaned and revamped with central funds, however, is filled up with water hyacinths. The water too has become polluted due to sewage from surrounding garages and the roaming of the shikaras have disturbed the habitat of the migratory wetland birds.

Since the last four years there has hardly been any arrival of the winged foreign winter visitors. Migratory birds from the USA like Golden Plover and even from faraway places like Siberia, Ladakh used to visit Saheb Bandh till a few years ago. The state government had planned a few years ago to promote bird tourism in Saheb Bandh like the oxbow lake in Chupi in Purbasthali in East Burdwan, but the lack of migratory bird has been a major setback.

These birds have migrated to other wetlands of the Purulia district in the past few years like at the Kooky Dam in Jhaldah, Marble Dam, Futiyari Dam, Murguma Dam, Turga Dam etc in large numbers. The census work has been named Annual Bird Survey 2024 and will be completed on 24 January. The bird lover associations, nature lovers and NGOs will assist the forest department in the census work.

Kartikayen M, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Purulia forest division said that the survey work will be mainly on the census of water bird populations. The census work will take place in Murguma, Turga and other wetlands located throughout the district, he said. “We have already spotted Eurasian wigeon, wire tailed swallow, great cormorant, Eurasian coot, red crested pochard, northern pintail, grey-headed Swamphen etc in Futiyari Dam.

In Kooky Dam bar-headed goose, red shield ducks, gadwal, etc could be seen. Purulia has huge potential for avian species lovers and the areas surrounding the Ayodhya Hills have become a paradise of migratory birds,” says Saptarshi Mukherjee, secretary of Wild Tuskers, Asansol, which has been entrusted in the survey work by the forest department.