Adyar Poonga is all set to become a haven for bird watchers
If you thought serious bird watching meant a drive down to Vedanthangal — or Pallikaranai, at the least — think again. The Adyar Poonga, coming up right in the heart of the city, is set to become an ornithologist's delight, with more than 85 different kinds of birds, including rare black bitterns, cinnamon bitterns, white bellied sea eagles having already been spotted in this green expanse.
The park, whose first phase is spread over some 58 acres, is set to open in December.
Land development, including excavation, construction of visitors' orientation area, four wooden bridges, nursery building, signages and exhibits have already been completed, according to sources in the Adyar Poonga Trust.
Officials said that a full-fledged forest nursery would be ready by November. There is also a plan to set up a green centre. Over 90,000 saplings of 172 species have been planted. “A total of 143 species of fish, amphibians, birds and reptiles have been seen here and we expect the number to go up to 200,” said an expert at the Poonga.
Butterflies, including the painted lady and black raja and blue tail green darner dragon fly, have been among those spotted here. Crows, mynahs, blue rock pigeons and water paddy birds walk on the sand near the waterbodies — even while humans are around.
Non-poisonous snakes, soft and hard shell turtles, painted frogs and green pond frogs can also be seen, say naturalists at the Poonga. Another indicator of the restoration is the improvement in the quality of water. According to Central Pollution Control Board norms, it is suitable for propagation of wildlife.
Though the Poonga is not yet open to the public, a very active school education programme is on, in which students of 20 city schools are participating. Children are taught to identify birds on the basis of their calls, and are also taught about plants.
Keywords: Adyar Poonga, civic issue, bird watchers, Vedanthangal
This is an excellent project; all of us wait for similar programmes to be implemented in all our cities and towns to improve the quality of our lives.
Awesome ! .. I wish every city wakes up to work on something like this.
It would be awesome to visit this park once it opens, right in the heart of the city!! Hope it would be well maintained and preserved for the future generations to cherish. Hope the land and builder mafia don't eye this park!
Natural creativity is wonderful & beneficial on all sphere. Please ensure strict & disciplined law providing manpower & as well required fund to maintain and to harvest the benefits for the future generation.
About four decades ago, the Adyar Estuary was teeming with birdlife. Naturalist Theodore Bhaskaran will bear this out, being the one to introduce us to this charming 'aside' within the hustle and bustle of the madding crowd. Actually, my son, a college student. came out with one of the earliest log of the bird life here and a plea for conserving this avian habitat, in the early seventies of the last century.
This is an excellent development. At a time when our cities are becoming unliveable due to mounting pollution and a growing population of vehicles and concrete structures, the creation of large parks such as this one help inch the clock forward. More such parks needed!
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