As monsoon fails, birds forsake sanctuary

An estimated 10,000 birds used to congregate during peak season at Udhaya Marthandapuram bird sanctuary

A view of the bird sanctuary at Udhaya Marthandapuram about 19 km from Tiruthuraipoondi .

The bird sanctuary at Udhaya Marthandapuram on the Tiruthuraipoondi - Pattukottai East Coast Road, about 19 km from Tiruthuraipoondi, wears a deserted look with no birds arriving in the wake of continuous monsoon failure. The sanctuary, spread over a sprawling reserve forest area of 44 hectares, accounts for a large number of 'kodukapuli' trees (Manila Tamarind) which is the main source of attraction for a number of birds that visit the sanctuary and camp for about five months between October and February every season. The sanctuary has eight small ponds and a large tank, three watch towers -- one of them with a maximum height of about 15 metres, and three others with a height of 10 metres, for facilitating the visitors to have an aerial view of an estimated 26 varieties of birds which visit the sanctuary during the season.

An estimated 500 'kodukapuli' trees are located in this sanctuary and about 1,000 'neer karuvelamaram' facilitate the birds to build the nests, say the official sources.

An estimated 10,000 birds congregate during the peak season and most interestingly, it is the regular congregation of a large number of Openbill Storks particularly during January-February every year. The sanctuary has a diverse habitat including patches, reed brakes, and aquatic grass.

The list of migratory water birds for whom the sanctuary has been a home, includes Little Egret, Open billed stork, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Coot, Little Grebe, Night Heron, White Ibis, Lesser Whistling Teals, Grey Pelican, Darter, Black Winged Stiff, Red Wattled Lapwing, Purple Heron, Painted stork, Pond Heron, Little Kinged Plover, Little Tern, Cattle Egret, so on and so forth.

Due to failure of monsoon, all the ponds have dried up and the watch towers, built about two decades ago are in a damaged condition.

The Forest Department has been taking a few steps for the upkeep and maintenance of the sanctuary. “A footpath, to a cumulative length of 4.5 km facilitating the visitors to go around the sanctuary, was damaged due to thick growth of thorny bushes. We have cleared the vegetation,” says an official of the Forest Department.

Conceding that the watch towers were in a state of neglect, the official said that a proposal for repairing and executing patch works on the towers has been sent to the government. Further, the tank in the sanctuary would also be dredged. Being a reserve forest area, farmers are not permitted to take the silt, the official clarified referring to the recent permission by the State government in permitting free lifting of silt from tanks and water-bodies.