Chengalpet to Get Second Bird Sanctuary at Odhiyur Lagoon
The area comes under the Cheyyur forest range and the forest department has requested for a comprehensive report defining the exact boundaries of the bird sanctuary
Chennai: Apart from the famous Vedanthangal lake, Chengalpet district is poised to get another bird sanctuary on the eastern side near the sea coast as the government has taken up measures to form a sanctuary at the Odhiyur lagoon.
The formal process to declare Odhiyur will begin once the revenue department completes measuring the area for the bird sanctuary. After the formal process of land measurements and classification, the land will be handed over to the forest department to develop the sanctuary.
The area comes under the Cheyyur forest range and the forest department has requested for a comprehensive report defining the exact boundaries of the bird sanctuary. The total area of the wetland should be notified under the Wildlife Protection Act before the forest department commences its work. Ecological boundaries should be fixed for the purpose of stopping any encroachments, construction work or agriculture coming up within the boundaries.
Under the Supreme Court guidelines, the area should be mapped under the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment. Then it will come under the protection of the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules.
Vedanthangal lake became a famous sanctuary visited by thousands of birds due to the suitable climate for breeding and the availability of food and water. The presence of too many lakes and the mangroves within the area provide plenty of food and resting place to the birds. They have been coming to the place for many centuries since birds rarely change their migration pattern.
Most of the birds coming to Vedanthangal cross the coast over Odhiyur since it lies in the path of birds migrating from India to Australia. Birds including garganeys, teals, grey pelicans, open-billed storks and spoonbills come from places like Sri Lanka, Siberia, Myanmar, Canada Indonesia, Pakistan, Burma, China and Australia to the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu. Odhiyur is a crucial site along the Central Asian flyway. If sufficient tree cover is provided in the sanctuary, birds could build nests, lay eggs and breed the young ones during winter and return with their young ones to their native places in May.
The area acts as a crucial stopover site along the Central Asian flyway for about 200 bird species. The eastern coast of Chengalpet attracts 40,000 to one lakh migratory water birds every winter and major species of birds like Greater Flamingos, Eurasian Spoonbills, Northern Pintails, and the endangered Indian Skimmers are expected to come to the Odhiyur sanctuary. Environmental activists and bird watchers expect early completion of the preliminary works by the revenue department to protect the area from infrastructure and industrial development.
