The authorities of northern Assam’s Udalguri district have served a showcause notice to the officials of the Tangla town Municipal Board for causing the death of more than 250 egret and cormorant chicks due to a COVID-19 scare.
Tangla is about 90 km north of Guwahati.
The district’s Deputy Commissioner, P. Uday Praveen said the show-cause was served to the civic body officials under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and COVID Regulations of 2020 for “spreading misinformation and creating fear among locals” regarding the spread of the infection by the novel coronavirus.
A First Information Report was also lodged by the State Forest Department under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 for the clearing of bamboo groves and causing the death of the cattle egret chicks, he said.
The Deputy Commissioner said the rescued chicks were sent to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Kaziranga.
The Executive Officer of the Tangla Municipal Board had on June 8 served a notice to five persons of Ward Number 1, asking them to clear the bamboo groves on their land to prevent the birds from nesting.
The notice read: “Your neighbours have complained that the egrets nesting on your bamboo groves are destroying the environment with their urine and droppings. This can spread corona infection too. You are thereby asked to cut down the bamboo groves for a cleaner, healthier surrounding.”
Lokjit Sutar, one of those who received the notice said the birds have been using the groves and trees in the neighbourhood for decades to nest. “We have never disturbed them and they never caused us any harm. We have always thought we were destined by Mother Nature to host the birds during their nesting period,” he said.
He and the four others had met the municipal authorities for letting the birds be. But the civic officials sent a few men to chop the bamboo groves on his and neighbour Mahendra Deka’s land before the district administration stepped in.
Battling death
Rathin Barman, Joint Director of Wildlife Trust of India that runs the CWRC, said 84 of the 89 fledglings and hatchlings of three species of birds — cattle egret, little egret and cormorant — survived the 150 km journey from Tangla to Kaziranga on June 25 afternoon.
Six cormorant eggs salvaged from the destroyed nests also reached the CWRC along with the chicks.
“Five chicks died on arrival while the condition of 55 that survived the trip is grave. Most of these (41) are little egrets,” he told The Hindu on June 26.
