JOINT teams of animal husbandry, disaster management, forest, wildlife, and municipal corporation are rummaging areas in and around a lake in Rajasthan for the carcasses of migratory birds, to bury them inside 10-ft deep pits to restrict contamination to other birds of what officials think is a contagious infection.

 

Migratory birds that used to visit the lake from far-off places to spend winter around the lake this year are dying, with the reason behind still unconfirmed. The carcasses of around 15 species of migratory birds, according to officials, were found scattered along the banks of Sambhar Salt Lake, about 80 km southwest of the Jaipur.

 

Sambhar Salt Lake is India’s largest inland salt lake and a prime wintering spot for tens of thousands of migratory birds. Although authorities collected viscera of birds and sent samples for testing to ascertain the actual cause of their death, the reason remains unknown, except that it could be contagious. The tests conducted at Bhopal laboratory have ruled out avian flu as the cause behind deaths.

 

Ornithologists are struggling to understand the reason for such large-scale deaths of migratory birds. There are assumptions that deaths might have been caused because of avian botulism. Experts say avian botulism occurs when birds feed on toxic substances.

 

Locals said the carcasses were being collected in tractor-trolleys from the catchment areas spreading over 12 km, and buried in deep ditches. The unusual deaths of migratory birds have triggered scare among the residents. It is for the first time such large-scale deaths of migratory birds are being witnessed and they fear if not tamed, it could start spreading among humans too. According to officials, the birds that were found dead include Northern Shoveller, Brahminy Duck, Pied Avocet, Kentish Plover, and Tufted Duck. The lake, which is protected as a world heritage site, also hosts flamingos, stilts, stints, garganey, gulls and other bird species.

 

Wildlife officials in Rajasthan said over 200,000 migratory birds, the majority of them flamingos and waders arrive at the lake to spend winters. The migratory birds from Siberia, Mongolia, and other places arrive at the salt lake in November and stay here until March.

 

Forest department officials said between 20-25 bird species are found around the lake during the winter period. Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court questioned the State Government for the reasons behind the death of these birds and in its reply, the Government had no concrete answer to furnish.

 

In its wobbly reasoning, it says the lake area is under the ownership of a private company which is solely responsible for its upkeep and management and anything thus happening there is under its jurisdiction and for it to manage  and answer.

 

The Government also says that the forest department is under pressure as it is inadequately staffed and it is not possible for the department guards to keep watch on all the happenings in the lake all the time. Though these shaky premises can serve as an alibi for the State Government to save its skin, it ultimately falls upon it to resolve the problem through urgent steps.

 

It certainly had lapses in monitoring of the area and it woke up late to the seriousness of the avian deaths. Shifting the blame on a private entity is a lame tactic because no company or firm can be or should be above the administration and law. Any entity within the boundary of the State is the State Government’s responsibility and when there is a crisis or any violation, the Government has to overrule all other concerns and act tough against whoever or whatever is responsible for the catastrophic occurrence.

 

It is often the leniency or pandering approach of the administration that makes private firms negligent of their social responsibilities and get lackadaisical when it comes to exigencies. The environment is a hot button issue globally and any harm to the environment is a major cause of concern for every one of us.

 

Birds, animals, and forests are at the receiving end not only due to our negligence but also due to our atrocious disregard for natural assets and their systematic plunder for the furtherment of human material interests.

 

Our unidirectional pursuit to extract and exploit nature to the hilt to enhance our luxury and conveniences is detrimental to the future of the Earth and our progenies. In our mad spree to garner more and more benefits from nature, we have forgotten how important nature and natural assets are for our own life and sustenance.

 

We are digging away the soil beneath our own feet and sinking in the pit of destruction by our own stupidities overshadowed by the greed for immediate gratification. The Government’s shady dealings and business interests further serve as the nail on the coffin.

 

Many of the environment laws are brazenly flouted to favour interest groups with an eye on the vote bank and/or financial gains, which points towards a major policy flaw in our country. There are resorts, theme parks, schools, universities, ashrams, mines, dams and railway lines allowed to be built inside several eco-sensitive zones and forest areas. Illegal cutting of trees and destruction of water bodies is a common occurrence here materialised in connivance with Government officials, politicos, and corrupt contractors.

 

In the case of the death of birds in Rajasthan, the Government cannot roll the ball in the court of the company owning the lake and absolve itself of the responsibilities. It is not possible that the Government won’t be privy to how things are being managed by the company and it is not possible that it is not in a position to implement the right provisions to grill the errant company if it is responsible for the lapse.

 

Many of our animal and bird species are endangered and many have silently vanished into oblivion, simply due to human activities that don’t give space to other forms of life.

 

Not just that, natural mountains, natural lakes and rivers, landscape, forests – many of our natural endowments have been destroyed to make way for concrete jungles. Unbridled and unregulated human settlements have eaten into forest areas and depleted natural resources. Animals are the major losers in the growing incidents of man-animal conflicts.

 

Our growing population burden and widening sphere of human activities make it more pertinent to walk the extra mile in saving our fragile ecosystem and precious resources already breathing their last. Each one of us is in some way responsible for environment degradation as long as we don’t speak up and/or mend our own actions, as it is the duty of each one of us to protect and nurture the environment around us and abstain from activities that pose a danger to plant and animal life.

 

As long as we are insipid and inattentive towards nature’s concerns, our governments won’t wake up and take major corrective or preventive actions because it is we the people who make society and Government and when we see Government’s inaction, somewhere it a projection of our own inabilities, negligence, and inaction.

 

By the way, We must remember that nature doesn’t differentiate, and when it reacts, it does so with a cruel vengeance and spares no one! The rumblings are already on. Every unnatural incident is a spoke in the giant wheel of destruction trundling down to trample humanity.