House sparrow, which is a major indicator of the health of the environment, is now endangered. With more and more open spaces being converted into giant buildings in the city, the state capital has lost most of its sparrow population. Environmental degradation and absence of appropriate food for the bird are two major reasons which have contributed towards the decline of its population.
To increase awareness about the issue, and focus on improving nature-man relationship, the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board has launched a public awareness campaign involving students and morning walkers on the occasion of World Sparrow day, which was observed on March 20 across the globe. “The house sparrow, which was once commonly found in cities and villages, is now a rare sight,” said WG Prasanna Kumar, from APPCB.
As part of the campaign, volunteers will be trained in raising general awareness, preparing nests for sparrows and habitat conservation like providing water and food regularly to birds.
He said the training will be imparted to school students during summer vacation at the Bal Bhavan centres across the state, adding that the campaign will also reach morning walkers in many public parks.
The dying practice of women cleaning grains at home due to availability of packaged clean grains from supermarkets and unavailability of insects to feed baby sparrows has driven these winged creatures out of the city.
He discerned that with growing interest in technology, children now prefer to spend time in front of the computer or the television, instead of getting closer to nature through birds like the sparrow.
Two posters in English and Telugu for promoting interest in neighbourhood bird conservation were released by the governor ESL Narsimhan on the occasion.