Is proclaiming sparrow as the state bird enough for its conservation?
9 Jul, 2013
An application was filed with the Department of Environment, Delhi Government under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details about the steps taken for the conservation of sparrows which was declared as Delhi's state bird in August, 2012. The department, which was the forerunner in the ‘sparrow protection’ campaign, transferred the application to the department of forests and wildlife which in turn transferred the application to various divisions of the forest department.
The north division and the south division of the forest department stated that they didn't have any information about the conservation measures of sparrow. However, the headquarter division provided the reply to the queries which states that there is no separate fund for sparrow conservation and there had been no expenditure on its protection. The reply also says that no study has ever been conducted to identify the areas where the bird is still found, which is a prerequisite for any conservation measure to succeed.
The environmentalists are concerned about the declining population of sparrows in the city due to pollution, noise and habitat encroachment. They contend that the sparrow, like other birds, is a bio-indicator. Its decline shows the disappearance of fields, bushes, trees, marshes and water bodies that is triggering extinction of species.