Harike census: ‘Survey was like a free vacation’

The controversy over the census of migratory birds at Harike wetland took a new turn on Monday when a member of the Census Committee constituted by the state wildlife department traced serious lacunae in the process. Abhijit Sen, a bird watcher who was on the census panel, has stated in a letter (sent via e-mail) to the Chandigarh Birds Club (CBC), the nodal agency that helped conduct the survey, that he was sad that the entire exercise was like a "free vacation".

"Sadly I noticed that many people who had volunteered to help with the survey treated the entire exercise as a little more than a free vacation," he has stated in the letter, a copy of which is The Indian Express. He said he noticed a similar attitude during surveys at the Pong Dam (Himachal) too. "A total count (of birds) was impossible in the circumstances," he stated.

The wildlife department has been under fire for empanelling not even one scientist on the panel, which allegedly completed the task in a hurried manner without a fool-proof methodology.

There were 52 members, all bird watchers from across India, who conducted the survey for two days and submitted the report last week.

Narbir Singh Kahlon, the coordinator of the Census Committee, however, said the survey was a credible attempt to carry out a census in a difficult environment. Principal Chief Conservator, Wildlife, B C Bala also said that some persons might have some objections to the methodology, but the census had given data that would help them keep a record of migratory birds.

Sukhdeep Singh Bajwa, former honourary wildlife warden, had stated that no scientist or officials from Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) or Wildlife Institute of India was involved in the survey, which, he said, cast a shadow over the credibility of the count.

... contd.

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