In the scorching heat of May, about 2,000 domestic waterfowl are seen perched in their habitat at Uppalapadu water tank.
The birds, mostly, spot-billed Pelicans and Painted storks, have made the tank their home after arriving during the nesting season beginning in September-October. There are others too, Spot Billed Duck, Darter, Black Headed Ibis and Open Billed Storks, all of them local migratory birds.
In increasingly testing times where the winged visitors are perceived as causing water contamination and pollution, forest officials are struggling to maintain the natural bird reserve site.
“The water tank is now spread across 4.3 acres. Expansion of water tank is increasingly becoming difficult due to resistance from villagers. The proposal to shift the school and expand the tank is being met with stiff resistance by the villagers,” said District Forest Officer Sk. Salam.
A long-term measure to provide filtered drinking water from Guntur to Upplapadu has not made much headway due to paucity of funds.
Retired honorary wildlife warden and a keen bird conservationist K. Mrutyunjaya Rao has been pleading with authorities that a special scheme for ensuring assured supply of water from the filtration plant at Takkellapadu is the answer. Villagers who have been coexisting with the birds need to be given some incentive, he said.
But, even during these hard times, visitors heading towards Uppalapadu can still enjoy the sight of domestic fowl fluttering around the branches. The Forest Department has set up a watch tower, and name-boards have come up on the tiled pathway. More artificial trees have been installed in the tank and riveting of five mounds has been completed. The birds are now seen scattered on trees.
District Forest Officer Sk. Salam said that unless the issue of extending the tank and declaring the area as a Community Reserve is solved, nothing much can be done to develop the tank.
