Bird education centre at revamped Okhla park

Noida: Union minister Mahesh Sharma on Tuesday announced a complete revamp of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary by the end of the year.
The bird park is expected to become more visitor-friendly and will be equipped to serve as a bird education and research spot for bird enthusiasts, the minister said.

The revamp plan includes budgets for cameras, more gates, a library, washrooms, and a drinking water facility.

A bird photography exhibition was hosted at the park on Tuesday to mark International Forest Day. The event was attended by officials of the state forest department and Alok Tandon, the Noida Authority chairman.

“This park is important for its potential as a bird sanctuary. It hosts a rich diversity of birds from India and other countries and we are going to now fully involve ourselves in the beautification of the bird sanctuary. The bird park holds immense value for conserving domestic species and plays host to international species as well,” Tandon said.

“The conservation of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary is our primary focus . The park with its rich ecological diversity hosts approximately 300 species and several rare and endangered species. Once the modification is complete, the park will be transformed into a full-faciliated bird-sanctuary,” Tandon added.

HV Girish, district forest officer of Gautam Budh Nagar, said the restoration work of the bird park will begin immediately and is expected to be completed by end of 2018.

“This is an important initiative. The overhaul, maintenance and beautification of the bird park was long overdue. The Union government’s support is making it possible now. The initial estimates for the project are around Rs 25 crore,” Girish said.

“The sanctuary has immense scope for improvement. While bird visits have been consistent, the park is expected to become more visitor-friendly after this initiative,” I C Singh, forest ranger at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary, said.