Villagers say that while water scarcity is an annual phenomenon, the 10-12 cement water tanks that the forest department constructed for the birds usually have enough water for the birds. “However, this time, the tanks have developed cracks,” admitted Dayanand Ghadge, Range Forest Officer, Shirur taluka.

“The water problem persists only till May. A long-term solution would be to construct more cement bunds to store water,” said Ghadge.

A couple of years ago, the forest department conducted the only census of peacocks in Chincholi and found that the number of peafowl was around 552. “When we told the villagers about the findings, they were shocked and disappointed since there were about 1,000 peafowl earlier,” said Chandan Phadtare of Jungle Cub, the NGO that carried out the census with the forest department.

Many of the villagers said they would be uncomfortable having tourists coming to gawk at their birds. “We were told that the buildings being constructed are for the tourists to come and stay. While we are proud that outsiders will come from faraway places to see our peacocks, we are aware that too many tourists may also make the birds uncomfortable,” said Chandrakanth Nanekar, a villager.

“We asked the panchayat to make Chincholi an ‘abhay aranya’—essentially a sanctuary that would be managed by the people. Commercialisation often comes at a price. For instance, tourists litter the peacock habitat with packets of food, thinking that the birds will eat it,” said Phadtare.

However ornithologist Satish Pande of the ELA Foundation feels a balanced view is essential while planning and implementing welfare measures. “In Morachi Chincholi, people and the peacocks have had a tradition of co-habitation and hence, its essential that the welfare measures are inter-linked,” he said. “While the local population tends to benefit with Chincoli being touted as an eco-tourist destination, its implementation will decide its fate,” said Pande.

... contd.