The Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in Srirangapatna on the banks of river Cauvery, home to a myriad species of birds, both Indian and migratory, as well as marsh crocodiles, flying foxes and even monitor lizards, is faced with a serious threat from its human visitors.
Every year, nearly four lakh people visit the sanctuary to watch the birds at close quarters.
The bamboo clumps and trees on the mini islets along the river that form the Sanctuary, have increasingly become easy targets for vandals who scratch not just their names, but also names of extended family, their addresses, names of towns, dates of their visit, even registration numbers of vehicles on the wood.
While one visitor has carved a message of love for a girl on a bamboo tree, another visitor has responded with ‘All the best bro’.
CCTV monitoring
The sanctuary authorities have now decided to file cases against visitors caught vandalising the trees and the bamboo grown along the walkways that are easy target for the ‘engravers’.
Etching on trees will disturb the birds besides damaging the beauty of the sanctuary, a senior forest officer said. “We have formulated strategies to prevent such activities. We will treat such activities as “misbehavior and an act to disturb the birds”, and initiate action against such visitors,” he said.
There are around 25 forest personnel to offer boat rides, guard and maintain the sanctuary. However, the number is insufficient to monitor the movements of every visitor.
According to the officer, the department plans to install CCTV cameras to track such miscreants.
“We are planning to book cases against persons caught indulging in such activities like etching messages and names on trees,” the officer said.
