Received proposal to declare Samanatham tank bird sanctuary: TN govt to HC

Madurai: The state govt informed Madras high court on Monday that it has received a proposal from the forest department to declare the Samanatham tank at Thiruparankundram in Madurai district a bird sanctuary.
Taking these into account, a division bench of Justice R Subramanian and Justice L Victoria Gowri disposed of a public interest litigation filed by advocate R Manibharathi of Madurai district.
The petitioner stated that he had come across a news report published in TOI dated Oct 16, 2023, titled ‘Call to declare Samanatham a bird sanctuary'. On reading the report, he learned that a total of 150 species of birds belonging to 52 families were recorded in the tank by Iragugal Amritham Nature Trust during a seven-year study from 2015. According to the trust's data, 84 of the 150 species were common, 43 were uncommon, and 23 were rare.
He stated that a research paper published in 2023 by the Journal of Threatened Taxa noted that 300 rare species of birds were found in the Samanatham tank. The petitioner said he submitted a representation to forest officials seeking to declare the Samanatham tank a bird sanctuary. However, the same was not considered. Hence, the petitioner moved the court seeking relief.