In a bid to conserve wildlife habitats in the State, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has proposed to declare areas around the Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary in Ramanathapuram district and Karaivetti Bird Sanctuary in Ariyalur district as Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ).
If the proposals go through, 4.7 sq. km around the Chitrangudi sanctuary and 5.5 sq. km around the Karaivetti sanctuary would be declared ESZs, with restrictions on construction, commercial mining and tourism activities.
Any person who is likely to be affected by the proposal and who wants to object to it or suggest changes may forward the same in writing to the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, within 60 days from the date on which copies of the Gazette containing the notification [of the proposal] are made available to the public.
The Bar Headed Geese, the highest-flying bird in the world having its breeding ground in Ladakh and Tibet, arrive in Karaivetti by February-end and remain until May before flying back, states the Ministry’s draft notification.
About 50,000 to 60,000 birds frequent the fresh water feeding ground in Ariyalur district annually. As for Chitrangudi, about 11,000 birds belonging to 43 species are known to visit the sanctuary during the peak season. The sanctuary is also home to pelicans, painted storks, Eurasian spoon bills, white ibis, among others. The birds flock to the sanctuary from October to February.
Monitoring panel
The draft notification issued in respect of each of the locations also lists out measures to be taken by the State government for giving effect to various provisions of the notification.
A Monitoring Committee is to be constituted in each of the locations that would recommend actions to be taken in this regard.
According to the Ministry, the purpose of declaring ESZs around sanctuaries is to “create some kind of shock absorber for protected areas.”
They are to act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection. So far, the Ministry has declared ESZs around 165 national parks and sanctuaries.
