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| At Gharana, a sorry song of wildlife deptt | | Winged guests about to arrive; foul smell waits to greet | | Ajay Meenia
Jammu | Sep 14
While hundreds of bird lovers and the local residents in Gharana and its adjoining areas close to the Indo-Pak international border anxiously await arrival of the annual international guest birds from different parts of the world, but the department of Wildlife is yet to think of making this place a destination worth visiting.
The Gharana village along the International Border is famous for its wetland where thousands of rare species of birds coming different parts of the world make their temporary 'home' from October to February. The arrival of these birds attract of many bird lovers and other tourists to this place. Ironically the wildlife department, which is custodian of this wetland, has not thought of making Gharana a visitors' destination.
The people of Gharana village and the enthusiastic visitors are eagerly awaiting the migratory as about 50 to 67 species of thousands of migratory birds visit the wet land from October onwards annually adding to the charm and beauty of this place. Nearly 15000 to 20000 migratory birds right from the month of October start coming to the wetland from several countries and stay till the month of February. According to survey 50-67 species, including some rare and endangered species like Siberian hans, Keel, Buck, Common Coot, Grey Heron and Little Grebe from New Zealand, America, Australia and Pakistan fly to Gharana wetland every year attracting large number of thousands of bird lovers and the visiting tourists.
According to the rough estimates in J&K nearly 300 species of migratory birds come in the state annually to different wetland reserves. Many of the tourists come at Gharana wetland to see these migratory birds. Scientists also visit the wet land reserve for research purposes.
While talking to "Early Times", Prem Pal a resident of Gharana village said that credit goes to the tourism department for giving Gharana the status of a tourist place. However, he was very critical of the working of the Wildlife Protection Department, which according to him, had failed to convert Gharana into an ideal destination. He further said that no cleaning of wetland has taken place since may years due to which the whole village has been facing lot of problems foul smell emanating out of the wastage of birds lying in the wetland.
Yash Paul, Des Raj and Ashok Choudhary, of the same village, said on one side they are very excited toward the visit of migratory bird but other side they also suspicious the problem like bird flu may reached in there. They said that wild life protection department has not been serious for this bird sanctuary.
The wildlife department has not made any arrangement for feeding the migratory birds or keeping the environment clean. No proper place for tourists has been created so that they can enjoy the dance of these Migratory birds. Students coming large number at Gharana wetland to see Migratory birds last year but feel dejected at the way things are being done here. When contacted, the Regional Wildlife warden Jammu, Nasir Kitchloo told EARLY TIMES that department has plan to clean up the Gharana wetland and sitting facility including other needy things arranged in this season.
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