Save Santragachi Jheel for our birds

Appeal to the Chief Minister of West Bengal

Save Santragachi Jheel for our birds

As you are aware the Santragachi Jheel is a very important waterbody near Kolkata which offers safe winter home for thousands of visiting ducks and other water birds coming from far and wide. The jheel is important because right now it is the only jheel of its kind that is left within such a close proximity to the city which is used by these migratory birds.

Every year the jheel gets filled by water hyacinth (kochuri pana) during monsoon. However, timely action by the Forest Department around the month of August/September ensures that the birds get a proper habitat to land, when they start arriving from late October or early November.

For some reasons, we observe that this year no work has so far started on cleaning up the jheel. Newspaper reports and personal visits have confirmed that the jheel is full of water hyacinth and in the present state no bird can land there.

If the crucial work of cleaning the jheel is not done on time, the birds will find it impossible to land when they arrive. This will lead to their going to various smaller ponds in the nearby regions, which will be very unsafe for them as well as for the citizens.

If by any chance there is any outbreak of bird flu disease the public health department will have a serious problem in its hands.

If the birds do not get a proper place to land this year, they might not come back to this region in future and permanently change their course.

As you are aware, we have already lost the Alipore Zoo as a site for landing of such birds due to various acts of political commission and omission. We have high expectations out of your government and hope you will personally intervene to do something so that proper action is taken to save the Santragachi habitat for these innocent birds, some of which are endangered.

The jheel also has a tremendous tourism and educational potential and is a credit to our city showing our attachment to nature and environment and adding beauty to our city.

It is not important for us to know whether it is the Forest Department or the Environment Department or the local Municipality or the Railways job to clean up the jheel. All that we know is someone from the government has to come forward and get the jheel cleaned and fit for the birds to land. We believe that as the head of the state of West Bengal you are the only person who will understand the urgency of the situation and do something quickly before it is too late.