Tag wildlife

Saving Basai wetlands

Dr V Selvarajan Leave a comment

Green Circle, Dwarka Chapter, organized a walk at Basai Wetlands to highlight the urgent need for conservation. This wetland is home to thousands of migratory birds. 20 members from Green Circle Dwarka visited Basai Wetlands. It is located adjacent to the Dwarka Expressway. They assessed the current condition of the site. Basai Wetlands is a globally recognized birding hotspot. It has been considered one of India’s Important Bird Areas (IBA) by Birdlife International for a long time. It supports around 20,000 migratory and domestic birds belonging to 295 species, according to the website ‘eBird International.’

The walk was led by Selvarajan, Chairman of Green Circle. Participants raised slogans and held placards to draw attention to the poor status of the wetlands. Romilla Gandhi, who organized the walk, emphasized the need for immediate action as the marshland is almost dried out. She urged members to help rejuvenate the waterbody and highlighted that the wetlands are only 10 minutes away from Dwarka. Green Circle intends to advocate for the wetlands’ protection with the Haryana government. Gaurav is an activist in the Basai Wetlands conservation movement from Gurugram. He noted that hundreds of bar-headed geese, wagtails, sandpipers, and godwits used to visit the wetlands during winter. These birds are now rarely seen. He pointed out that untreated and polluted sewage water now reaches this unique wetland, which once had clean water. Muralidhar, another member of Green Circle, recalled that 25 years ago, Basai was frequented by massive flocks of bar-headed geese. These birds migrated from Mongolia and China. The journey involved crossing the Himalayas in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius during winter. Nowadays, these birds are seldom spotted.

Selvarajan stated that wetlands are crucial for the ecosystem, not only for protecting birdlife but also for recharging groundwater. He emphasized the importance of raising awareness among locals about the wetlands’ significance. Gaurav added that the ‘Save Basai Conservation Movement’ will form a core committee. This committee will highlight the wetlands’ vulnerability. It will engage with the Haryana government for their preservation. It was decided to send a petition to the Haryana government to advocate for the protection of wetlands. After the walk, Green Circle members visited Sultanpur National Park. They observed the successful conservation of the park as a birding hotspot.

Avalahalli lake- Biodiversity Survey

Dr V Selvarajan Leave a comment

First Biodiversity survey at Avalahalli lake

“We never expected this lake to have such a huge potential!” said Deepa Mohan, leading a team of naturalists from all over Bangalore in a biodiversity survey organized by Green Circle, an environmental organization working for the rejuvenation of Avalahalli lake in North Bangalore. Adding ‘we have spotted 70 species of birds including some uncommon birds like yellow Bittern, Cinnamon Bittern, Lesser Whistling Duck, Ruddy breasted Crake etc” she said that this lake has every potential for naming it as ‘Biodiversity Hotspot’. A team of 20 naturalists specialized in flora and fauna listed birds, bees, butterflies, plants, herbs, trees and shrubs. Naturalist Rishov says, ‘the lake has a lot of plants and trees like Acacia, Asthma Plant, Banyan Bengal Day flower, Blue Ears, Casuarina/Australian Pine, Cluster Fig, Common Fig, insects like Caterpillars, Red Costate Moth, Dwarf Honeybee, Fly, Flesh Fly, Long-legged Honeybee, Grasshopper and butterflies like Apefly, Blue, Gram Blue, Lesser Grass’ Expressing thanks to the survey team, Kumar Kalyandurg, Public Relations Director of Green Circle said, ‘it is amazing to see that volunteers from far off places from South and Central Bangalore have taken pains to visit the lake to record the biodiversity in our lake. We are excited to know that such a lot of natural wealth is available in this lake area’.

Vasnathkumar, another director of Green Circle added, ‘our enthusiasm is gaining momentum. We will be working on rejuvenating the rajakaluve with doubled enthusiasm now’. Satish, a birder said, ‘for me, sighting of a yellow bittern is a great excitement, I didn’t know that this lake is so rich in its diversity’. Karthikeyan Nambiar, another participant recorded 24 varieties of trees and 17 plant species. Dr Selvarajan, Chairman Green Circle said, ‘Green Circle will undertake 3 more surveys on a quarterly basis and study the varieties here. People’s Biodiversity Register will be compiled and submitted to authorities’