NOIDA: Tucked away at a distance of about 40 km from the city, Dhanauri has been a thriving habitat for Sarus cranes, the state bird, for several years. But with the city limits hurtling towards it, with the Jewar international airport leading the slew of development projects planned close to the wetlands, Dhanauri now stares at existential challenges that accompany development.
In a census concluded by the forest department in September, it was revealed that the wetland had 84 Sarus cranes, including 16 chicks. One month on, the count is likely to have gone up, as it is the nesting season and several eggs might have hatched.
But there is a lot to worry about. Dhanauri will in a few years find itself surrounded by urbanisation with massive real estate projects that are being planned in the airport’s catchment area.
The wetland is located around 26 km away from the airport site and about 20 minutes away from Bilaspur, another upcoming residential area. And now, a 50-metre road is under construction that would connect the new residential sectors in the area with Noida. The road is part of a masterplan prepared by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA).
“Thanks to our interference, the direction of the road has been shifted by YEIDA and now, it is not cutting through the wetland, as it was supposed to in the original plan. Dhanauri was discovered later, so part of the area is still a residential sector on YEIDA plan and earmarking it as a sanctuary is of utmost importance. The forest department has the mandate to do it,” said birder and environmentalist, Anand Arya.
Ritesh Kumar, the head of Wetlands International South Asia (WISA), said: “The road and the possible traffic in future are a cause for concern. While we are working on a Ramsar tag. But on the ground, conservation plans have to be meticulous. We will revisit the area in a few weeks for that.” Kumar had visited the site in September to study its feasibility for a Ramsar tag. The forest department had concluded that the measurement of the site and a periphery has been marked for a Sarus sanctuary.
The forest department claims that it has two options — one is to acquire the land and create a sanctuary and the other is mark it as a sanctuary officially and define the rights of the farming community and other villagers who are in the zone of influence around the main 101 hectare wetland.
“We are weighing the options to process the sanctuary status for Dhanauri,” said district forest officer, GB Nagar, PK Srivastava. Asked about leaving the area, a farmer said, most of them are ready to go if the rate of compensation is good. “We are ready to leave if we get the right compensation at 64.7% and 10% for abadi land,” farmer Mahavir Sharma said while working on a rice field. Not too far from where he is, a Sarus crane had laid eggs and those seem to have hatched recently.
“It is normal behaviour for Sarus cranes to build nests right in the middle of paddy fields. Wetland and paddy fields are often close to each other. The crane will lay eggs where it feels safe,” Kumar said. The nesting season ends in October.
Arun Vir Singh, CEO, YEIDA, said that he has been getting phone calls about a certain plan for conservation but nothing on paper. “If the forest department is serious, it should send us a proposal on paper. Why is it taking so long?” Asked about the delay, Srivastava said: “We are working on the documentation.”