Group protects sparrows in Gopalpur

Berhampur: An organisation in Gopalpur of Ganjam district has been working to protect sparrows, which are not so ubiquitous in most cities and towns any more, by installing nests in front of some houses in the coastal town.
“The population of sparrows has increased from only 20 to around 5,000 in Gopalpur with the installation of around 500 nests in the last eight years,” said Rabindra Nath Sahu, secretary of Ganjam district sea turtle protection committee, which has been raising awareness on conservation of sparrows for the past nine years.
On Monday, the organization observed World Sparrow Day at Purunabandh, a village near the Rushikulya river mouth, where they started conservation of the little bird in 2007.
“The fishermen community has been providing space to the birds for breeding, as well as feeding them and protecting their chicks,” he said. Active support of the locals and availability of adequate quantity of food are the main reasons for the increase of the population of sparrows in Gopalpur, experts said.
“We have been providing logistic support to the organisations who work for the conservation of sparrows,” said Sunny Khokkar, divisional forest officer (DFO), Berhampur. Besides, the organisation has also conducted sparrow conservation programme in several villages in 17 districts with villagers extending their cooperation. Sahu urged the state government to declare sparrow as the state bird like Bihar and Delhi and chalk out a plan for its protection and conservation.
Anchalika Bikash Parishad, another NGO, also undertook conservation measures in 35 villages in Ganjam and Gajapati districts and distributed nests. To mark the occasion, the NGO distributed several artificial nests and feeding bottles to local residents.