Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Crow deaths: Saryu Roy to call on CPCB chief

Crow deaths: Saryu Roy to call on CPCB chief


Saryu Rai, senior functionary of the outfit and BJP leader, informed that he is scheduled to meet CPCB chairman on December 7 and subsequently have a dialogue also with the joint secretary of the Forest and Environment Ministry for demanding an effective and time-bound probe by wildlife experts into the crow deaths. It’s high time the Government here wakes up and takes the matter seriously as the phenomenon is spreading like wild fire.
“The neglectful approach of the forest department and clandestine conduct of the visiting probing teams (from Bhopal and Bareilly) have made us sceptical,” Rai said.
Holding the large scale felling of trees in violation to environment safety guidelines responsible for increasing pollution here, Rai asked the district forest office to set up enclosures of six feet circumference around trees and ensure adequate soil and water.
Meanwhile, the Ornithology Society of India has sought a comprehensive scientific probe by a competitive wildlife authority to arrive at accurate findings. The Society is not satisfied with the research of the National Institute of Virology Pune regarding the abnormal rise in the house crow mortality rate.
Calling for inclusion of crows in the category of wildlife, Prof. K K Sharma of OSI said: “The situation is getting grave with every passing day. Unless crows are made part of the wildlife category there is a least possibility of competitive wildlife authority taking up the case.”
In this regard, he said that senior World Wildlife Fund official RK Singh is visiting here on December 18 to make a spot study of the Steel City’s environmental issues.
“We need to study their behavioural pattern and roosting habitat along with the immediate causes (of crow deaths) and we are of the opinion only a qualified wildlife body can do it satisfactorily,” Prof. Sharma said.
An abrupt rise in the death of crows was first reported in a study by Sharma, the Head of Department of Zoology of Co-operative College, in September.
Sharma conducted the study after he found large number of carcasses at a spot in Jubilee Park. In his initial study, Sharma suspected encephalitis virus as the major cause and said he had detected some unnatural behaviour among the crows apparently affected by the virus. He claimed that 10 per cent of the population of crows in a particular region of the city has already died due to the virus within a fortnight since he began the study.

“It is a matter of great concern. As per my study, the symptoms found in the crows prior to their untimely death have given me reasons to believe encephalitis is apparently the cause behind the rise in the death toll,” said Sharma.

Sharma further added that thick presence of water hyacinths in the two adjoining rivers of Kharkhai and Subernarekha is primarily responsible for the spread of viral infections in the city which took its toll on the crows,. Poor climatic condition, high presence of bacteria in the water bodies and presence of germs in kitchen waste made things worse for the crow’s survival, he said.0http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/ranchi/25559-crow-deaths-saryu-roy-to-call-on-cpcb-chief.html

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