HYDERABAD: People from various walks of life on Sunday celebrated ‘World Sparrow Day’ to highlight the need to protect these endangered species from disappearing from the Earth. The celebrations took place at KBR National Park and Nehru Zoological Park where several forest officials, environmentalists and students were present, while at the community level, people got together to play their bit to ensure that these chirpy birds get all help they can to survive in the city.
“Birds, especially sparrows, continue to be a part of our way of life and it is everyone's responsibility to make sure they do not become extinct," said R.M. Dobriyal, principal chief conservator of forests. He was the chief guest at the World Sparrow Day celebrations at KBR National Park. He said the days of playing with sparrows in childhood were recollected by all and it was everyone's duty to protect the environment. In addition to bird watching in the morning, environmental awareness, explanation of dos and don'ts in forest areas, distribution of nesting boxes, drawing competition for schoolchildren and signature campaigns were also held at the park.
Meanwhile, 50 students from the Government High School, Kalikaman, Hyderabad, participated in the ‘Sparrow Walk’ at Nehru Zoological Park, under the guidance of S. Rajashekar, the zoo curator and A. Nagamani, deputy curator. Feeding bowls and mud bowls for drinking water were placed on various trees in the Mazhar Garden area of the park. Later, drawing and poster making competitions were conducted for students. M.J. Akbar, director of the Zoo Park distributed the prizes to the winners.
Members of the Dawoodi Bohra community, as part of their ‘Project Rise’, distributed bird feeders at an event at the MSB Educational Academy, in Trimulgherry to residents in Trimulgherry, Yapral, and other surrounding areas.
The Dawoodi Bohra community holds the world record for distributing around 52,000 bird feeders in a single day. The feed and water bowls made from clay distributed on the occasion were specially designed to suit the needs of small size sparrows, an organiser said.
