Yamuna flow, birds' path determines Okhla eco zone

Times of India: Noida: Saturday, 13 September 2014.

A study by the Wildlife Institute of India provides the basis on which the Centre has redrawn the contours of the eco-sensitive zone around the Okhla Bird Sanctuary.

In a reply to an RTI application, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has disclosed the report, which points out that "migrant birds flock to the sanctuary from the northern side and the Yamuna, too, flows into the sanctuary from the northern side".

Emphasizing the need to clean up the Yamuna, the report suggests the river be desilted regularly to maintain the ecological health of the sanctuary. "The Okhla Bird Sanctuary was established on a manmade water reservoir which is bound on three sides except in the north from where the Yamuna enters," the report says. "Water quality of the Yamuna has deteriorated and it is necessary to ensure no discharge of untreated waste water be made into the river," it adds.

Keeping these suggestions in mind, the MoEF has marked extended the eco-sensitive 1.27km from the park's boundaries to the north but restricted it to a radius of 100 metres to the west, east and south, as the UP government had proposed.

The Wildlife Institute of India report recommends extending the eco-sensitive zone to the north along the Yamuna all the way up to the Wazirpur barrage. "Emphasis should be given to protect the floodplains lying to the north of the sanctuary. The northern zone needs to be extended up to the Wazirpur barrage," the report says.

The RTI application was filed by a group of environmentalists and reveals the recommendations of the Wildlife Institute of India along with the responses of the chief wildlife warden of Haryana and the UP government.

The response from Haryana has explained that since the state is beyond 5,000 metres on both sides of the sanctuary, there is no logic for the eco zone to be extended to Haryana as it is "too far" to affect the sanctuary.

With the logic and need for the protection of the northern end of the sanctuary reinforced by the report, the UP government has said the onus of cleaning the Yamuna lies with Delhi since the northern region is a part of its territory.