Wildlife staff battle cold to ensure stay of migratory birds

“It is nothing new for us. We are used to this practice when the temperature drops and the water surface turns solid,” said Range Officer of the wetland Mushtaq Ahmad.

Ahmad said the early setting of cold wave condition this winter has put extra pressure on the staff,which is already less than adequate.

“Usually,the water pools get frozen during ‘Chilaikalan’,the 40-day-long severest part of winter in Kashmir,begining later this month,” he said.

Spread over 13.75 square kilometres and located just 14 kms from here,the wetland registered a record number of 10 lakh migratory birds last winter.

The birds found in the wetland include migratory ducks and geese — which include Brahminy Duck,Tufted Duck,Gadwall,Garganey,Greylag Goose,Mallard,Common Merganser,Northern Pintail,Common Pochard,Ferruginous Pochard,Red-Crested Pochard,Ruddy Shelduck,Northern Shoveler,Common Teal,and Eurasian Wigeon.

The birds fly here from Central Asia,Siberia and Europe between September and April.

“We are hosting nearly seven lakh birds at present and we are expecting the number to increase further,breaking all previous records. We are doing our best to ensure their stay,” Senior Wildlife Guard Ghulam Mohammad,who leads the team entrusted with the job of breaking the thin layer of ice and spreading feed,said.

He said over the past couple of days,the frozen surface only melts late afternoon,forcing the staff to break the ice manually before the return of the birds to the wetland.

“They (birds) will not leave…they will leave for other wetlands for feeding only after dusk,” Mohammad said.

He said it was impossible for the employees to maintain the wetland without the support of casual labourers.

“There are just seven casual labourers who have been doing a tremendous service for nearly a decade in maintaining the wetland. They are getting less than Rs 100 per day,” he said.

Lauding the efforts of the labourers,he said they have become experts over the years but since the department has not gone for full time recruitment,their future hangs in balance.

“They are manually removing the obnoxious weeds and trying their best to restrict the shrinking of the water pools,using traditional axes,” he said.

“Our plea for confirmation has fallen on deaf ears. We have developed a love for the birds and it is because of this we are continuing with the job. Otherwise,it is impossible to make ends meet on the meager amount we are getting,” said one of the labourers.

He said they were also part of the anti-poaching party.

“Poaching is no major problem in the wetland but still we have constituted special squads to protect the birds,” the range officer said.

Admitting shortage of staff,Ahmad said,”We are only 10 staff members posted here. There is a need for major recruitment in the wildlife department to help protect and conserve the wetlands and the wildlife,” he said.

Ahmad said the wetland is a restricted area and nobody is allowed inside without the prior permission and there were no plans to open the wetland for bird watchers.

“Nobody is allowed without prior permission. We have visitors like army officers,VIPs and university students and researchers,” he said adding “we are hopeful that the government’s plan to start the eco-tourism will cover the Hokersar wetland as well.”