Savita Kovind opens Chandigarh Bird Park near Sukhna Lake

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 16

Savita Kovind, First Lady of India, inaugurated the Chandigarh Bird Park in the presence of Pushpa Devi Purohit, wife of UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit.

The Department of Forest and Wildlife, UT, has developed the park at Nagar Van behind Sukhna Lake for creating awareness among public about bird conservation. These aviaries have been created for the exotic birds which are commonly bred in India.

The department has planned the enclosure in such a way that the birds, apart from having a free flight and nesting in the natural habitat, will stay at the aviary and visitors will be able to walk past them.

The park’s lush green spaces are covered by terrestrial plants, ferns, shrubs, bushes, aquatic plants, trees and creepers to provide every bird with an environment that is perfectly suited to its unique needs. Herbs, shrubs and trees have been planted to suit the birds’ natural habitat.

Savita Kovind visited the entire park and appreciated the efforts made by the Forest Department. She shared that the bird park would help to draw the attention of amateur bird watchers, environmentalists and ornithologists to this planned urban city where visitors could enjoy the nature amidst the winged friends. The facility so created with commitment and professionalism will definitely go a long way in the history, she added.

Debendra Dalai, Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, UT, said the Forest Department had established the bird park over 6.5 acres behind Sukhna Lake which had been developed by providing ample space for each and every bird. It has 58-foot flying height and nearly 200x150 feet of ground area each for terrestrial birds and aquatic birds. The facility has got two small aviaries and two walk through aviaries.

In order to avoid crowding inside the aviary, visitors can visit the park in different time slots from November 17 onwards.

The event was also attended by Dharam Pal, Adviser to the Administrator; Nitin Kumar Yadav, Secretary (Environment & Forests); Mandip Singh Brar, Deputy Commissioner; Nitika Pawar, Director (Tourism); Dr Abdul Qayum, Deputy Conservator of Forests; Jaswinder Kaur, MD, CITCO, and other officers of the Chandigarh Administration.

Main attractions

The park has African love birds, budgerigars, white swan, black swan, wood duck, golden pheasant, yellow golden pheasant, green wing macaw, sun conures, African grey parrot, finches and melanistic pheasant.