Youth of Gunthabandha village on the outskirts of the city have started making an effort to save the sparrow whose numbers have been dwindling in the area.
They say they have been motivated by villagers of Purunabandha in Ganjam district, who have become flag-bearers of sparrow conservation in Odisha. Due to urbanisation, population of sparrows had dwindled at this village under Kukudakhandi block and its adjoining areas. The main reason was the reduction of thatched houses in the village which are natural shelters for these tiny birds.
Youth wing of the Anchalika Vikas Parishad, a civic organisation in the area, took notice of the declining population of sparrows in their area few months back.
Sujit Kumar Bisoi, a youth of the village said, “After Phailin last year, we found only a few sparrows left in our village, which started to worry us as these birds were part of our day-to-day life. We decided to take up measures to protect and conserve the existing sparrows in our village. To educate ourselves, we visited Purnabandha village to gather tips and techniques from the pioneers of sparrow conservation,” he added.
One of the reasons identified was the lack of nesting sites in concrete houses. Residents of Gunthabandha have been motivated by the youth in the village to hang pots created out of dried large gourds as nests to attract sparrows. They have also started using plywood boxes for the purpose. By putting food grains inside these man made nests, the sparrows were attracted to them. Slowly, sparrows have started to live in these new man made nests provided to them at the village. But they are yet to lay eggs in them. The effort of sparrow conservation at Gunthabandha village has also made villagers of adjoining villages interested in sparrow conservation.
Purunabandha has become a successful centre of community sparrow conservation in Orissa and eastern India. The activists of Rushikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee (RSTPC) of Purunabadha involved in protection of Olive Ridley turtles during their nesting season at Rushikulya Rookery had started sparrow conservation few years back. According to Rabindranath Sahu of RSTPC sparrow conservators of Purunabandha village have also helped in sparrow conservation projects at places like Banei, Tensa, Rourkela, Athagada, Sonepur, Balugaon etc in the State. Apart from it the artificial nests for sparrows designed at Purunabandha have been procured by sparrow conservators of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.
