Monday Musings: Is Dr Salim Ali Bird Park headed for a slow, painful death?

Located on the banks of the Mula-Mutha river with a healthy cluster of trees, this bird park, just a decade ago, was frequented by at least 30 different species of birds, including ruddy shelduck, red wattled lapwings and black headed ibis. It was famous over the decades as the Yerawada birding point.

If pigeons, sparrows and crows are the birds that you mostly see out of your window, here is this spot in the city blessed with a variety of birds not seen normally.

Had Pune been one of the cities of Europe, Japan or America, the citizens, bureaucrats and politicians would have rallied together to cherish this bird park and celebrate its presence as one of the crowning glories of the city.

Named after Salim Ali, the great Indian ornithologist, who had paid a visit to this bird park, citizens, politicians and bureaucrats would have ensured that not a blade of grass was harmed at this spot and would have taken steps to turn it into a better sanctuary for our feathered friends.

Something similar was actually achieved in Pune, literally across the river from the bird park, behind the Osho commune, where Osho’s disciples transformed a 12-acre sewage channel into a beautiful garden known as Osho Teerth Park.

Also known as the ‘Nala Park’, Osho sannyasins, with their superior skills from Germany, United Kingdom and the United States, created natural filtration systems to deal with the polluted gutter water and oil from a railway yard flowing into the nala, undertook beautiful tree plantation and landscaping, and fiercely protected the 12 acre garden by appointing private guards. They have indeed given a splendid gift to the city.

The Osho Teerth Park is an example of how human intervention can protect the beauty of nature - not destroy it.

In contrast, what does one see happening at the Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary? Even though Saurabh Rao, Pune municipal commissioner, has expressed his commitment to protect the sanctuary, there is poor security at the park. As a result, there is regular, unauthorised dumping of garbage at the sanctuary, cutting and burning of trees, and vandalism.

It is almost as if this is being done deliberately to defeat the weekend cleanliness drives at the park by volunteers and green activists such as Satish Khot and others from the National Society for Clean Cities and the Kalyani Nagar Residents’ Association.

Rather than contribute to the cause of the environment and the citizens’ efforts, the prominent real estate firm, Panchshil - closely associated with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar - has initiated construction in a neighbouring plot, following a modification in the Development Plan by the state government.

As though this were not enough, an unknown group of people from the Siddharthnagar slums surfaced on Friday and claimed ownership of the bird park land as ‘mahar watan land’ while admitting that their name did not exist in the land ownership papers for the plot. This group, which had never before staked claim to the land, created a scene before the civic commissioner to press their point. What is their intention in creating a commotion? Is it to thwart the restoration of the bird park?

With all of these hurdles, the restoration of the bird park is not going to be easy, and that is what we need to bear in mind.

abhay.vaidya@htlive.com