Make Ankasamudra tank a bird sanctuary: birdwatchers

Ballari: Concerned by the rising number of poachers hunting rare migratory birds arriving at the Ankasamudra tank in Hagari,  Bommanahalli taluk birdwatchers and wildlife enthusiasts are calling for the area to be declared a bird sanctuary and given adequate protection.

The tank is a natural bird sanctuary with several  birds such as painted stork, grey heron, comb duck, egret, grebe, cormorant, ibis and open billed stork arriving here to roost. Brimming with water until 1980, the lake dried up in later years owing to the building of dams  in its catchment area.  

When encroachments too began to threaten it,  the forest department planted mthe Acacia Nilotica trees extensively on its dry bed to safeguard it. Over the years, the thorny trees began to attract rare and migratory birds  looking for a safe nesting place.

But then a couple of years ago, the tank filled up in heavy rains and has remained filled since then due to a scheme to revive it. The shallow water of the lake and its thorny trees now provide an ideal roosting place for the birds, which feed in the backwaters of the  Tungabhadra dam the whole day before returning to it at sunset for nesting. Mr Samad Kottur, a wildlife enthusiast and president of the North

Karnataka Birders’ Network, who is spearheading a movement to declare the lake a “Community Conservation Reserve,” along with Honorary Wildlife warden of Ballari,  Dr. S.K.Arun, has presented a detailed  report and proposal to the Chief Conservator of Forests, Ballari Circle,to declare  it a bird sanctuary and appoint two watchers immediately to protect the  nesting birds.

The local chapter of the Society for Wildlife and Nature (SWaN) has, meanwhile, appointed a few private guards to watch the lake and held meetings with the youth and elected representatives, besides conducting awareness programmes in the villages on the importance of protecting the birds.