The Pulicat lake surroundings turned into a beehive of activity with tourists, children and local villagers arriving to celebrate the Flamingo festival which kicked off to a colourful start at Sullurupeta, Atakanithippa, Nelapattu and BV Palem on Sunday.
At the main festival venue at the Government Junior College grounds in Sullurupeta town, exhibition stalls featuring various departments like forestry and animal husbandry were held.
Bird view towers were built on the road from Sullurupeta to Sriharikota space centre.
Nearly 80 varieties like flamingos, which arrive from as far off as Siberia and the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, were present in the lake.
Visitors including school children arrived at the Nelapattu bird sanctuary, one of the festival venues. Pelican migratory birds were a visual feast as they flock together nesting on the baringtonia trees.
It was because of the biodiversity in the lake that the location of the proposed Dugarajapatnam port was shifted to Tupilipalem village so that there would be no threat to the habitat of the winged visitors.
A sand sculpture of ‘mother nature’ protecting the birds became a major attraction at the Atakanithippa wildlife centre in the interior parts of the sanctuary.
Artist Manchala Sanath Kumar sculpted the image on sand to bring out the significance of the festival with a message that everybody would be protected if nature with all its biodiversity, flora and fauna was not disturbed in any form.
