Bhindawas wildlife sanctuary to be made tourist spot

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government has decided to develop wildlife sanctuary at Bhindawas in Jhajjar district as a major tourist spot besides planning to set up bird care centres at district level.
This was revealed by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala here on Wednesday while presiding over the first meeting of the State Wildlife Board.
The chief minister said the reason for developing Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary as a tourist spot was that it was home to a large variety of migratory birds.He directed the officials of forest department to ensure that all the facilities, which were required for the growth of a bird sanctuary were made available.
Referring to a few other projects, Chautala said the resolution required to be passed by the panchayats for the control of Blue Bull (Neel Gai) should be made more user-friendly. The provisions provided under this Act should be advertised so as to educate the farmers about its full use. He said Blue Bulls were a constant problem in the rural areas and efforts must be made to control them.
Listing the facilities being provided in Bhindawas, chief wildlife warden RD Jakati informed that a dense forest spread over an area of 166 acres and an open forest spread over an area of 147 acres were being developed alongwith the culivation of herbal plants there. The lake in this area would be maintained by irrigation department and there would be no shortage of water. A nature interpretation centre will also be set up for the study of wildlife.
Jakati also stated that the water supply to the Sultanpur lake had been increased and 16,000 to 20,000 migratory birds were flocking the sanctuary. Besides this, a tiger reserve was also being considered by the Central government, which would be developed by combining the areas of Kalesar in Haryana, Rajaji National Park in Uttaranchal and Simbalwada Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh.
General secretary of Digambar Jain Maha Samiti Satinder Jain pleaded for setting up of bird hospitals in the state. Pradeep Kumar, head of the department of wildlife health at the Wildlife Institute of India, further suggested that the people who were employed at these hospitals should be given proper training because there was a marked difference in the handling of wild and poultry birds.
Kumar further added that Indian Wildlife Health Cooperative set up at Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar could be strengthened and expanded for this purspose.