Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary - Part I

Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary - Location

The sanctuary is located in Niphad taluka of Nashik district at Chapadgaon village and is about 40kms from Nashik city. It is easily accessible by road, preferably using personal transport. As far as my knowledge goes, there is no direct public transportation to the sanctuary. 

How to reach the sanctuary

The easiest route to pick on Google Maps is, Nashik-Nandur-Shilapur-Chanduri naka (take a right turn here), which takes one through Saikheda, continuing onwards to Godanagar-Bhuse.  About half a kilometer from Bhuse, take the dirt road on the left towards the forest department office at Nandur Madhameshwar.

Except for the last part (around 600m), the road is in pretty good shape, lined with rolling green fields and grape orchards on both sides. The farmers appear to be doing quite well, looking at the overall surroundings.

There is city bus service (Nashik Citilinc) route 132, to Saikheda village. From here, shared auto rickshaws are available to reach the sanctuary, a distance of 12km.

Some background about the sanctuary 

The sanctuary was created in 1986 and is essentially a wetland area formed by the backwaters of Nandur Madhameshwar Dam. The International Ramsar Convention on Wetlands declared the wetland as a Ramsar Wetland on January 27, 2020, as it met certain criteria set by the Ramsar Convention. This recognition helps a site gain recognition, boost tourism and receive government funding, ultimately creating an awareness for nature / wetland conservation. 

However, the covid pandemic came along immediately after the declaration, leading to lockdown and closure of the sanctuary till late 2021. Now that it is open for visits, it is expected that the wetland will be truly preserved and improved upon.

So, after a long time during which I had only planned to visit the sanctuary, I was finally able to do so in the last week of February 2022. We drove out early on Saturday and reached around 07.45 hours. There were a few vehicles already parked in the parking lot. After paying the necessary charges (details mentioned below), we set out on the mud pathways. 

Charges
2 wheeler parking: Rs.20.00
4-wheeler parking: Rs.50.00
Entry (Adult): Rs.30.00
Entry (below 12): Rs.15.00
Camera: Rs.100.00

Best time to visit: November to March

The sun was not yet shining brightly, and the temperature was 12℃. The pathways were damp due the surrounding swampy ground and the atmosphere was extremely quiet; all we could here was bird calls around us with faint snatches of some mantras being chanted in one of the nearby villages.

The water body is not seen from the pathway as it is surrounded by an impenetrable wall of tall grasses and reeds, which normally grow on wetlands. The dense undergrowth makes it impossible for anyone to deviate from the pathways. On the other side (away from the waterbody), the forest is chiefly comprised of thorny trees (thorny acacia, gum arabica, babul) interspersed with other species. 

 

Bird watching towers

There are four towers erected for bird watching over the tall grass and provide a view of the lake formed by the backwaters of the dam. The tower furthest from the entrance is always crowded with bird watchers, many of them with tele-zoom cameras and binoculars, as it affords a good view of the lake. For the information of those who do not own binoculars, note that these can be hired from the forest department guards at the entrance for a nominal fee. The sun shone brightly when we reached the tower. In front of us stretched the lake, broken by patches of water hyacinth, reeds and small islands covered with trees and stumps of sunken trees. The tree stumps were ideal perch for the birds to preen themselves or just bask in the sun. The ducks, teals and other waders were wading majestically through the still waters in search of their feed of small fishes and aquatic creatures. In shallower areas, we observed jacanas and moorhens, their long legs and toes easily facilitating movement on the floating aquatic plants.

Small groups of birds took off and arrived constantly, splashing in the water. Frequently, large groups took off suddenly in confusion, with cries of alarm and in a flurry of wings with a whooshing sound, as a marsh harrier flew over them.  

Continued in Part II (will upload soon). Till then, stay safe.

Purple Sunbird

Small brightly colored birds, the glossy metallic sheen is sported by males in breeding season.

The females are drab brown.

They are commonly found all over south India, extending up to Sri Lanka.

 

 

“The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.”
—John Paul II

Spotted Munia

The spotted munia is a small bird, found all over India, chiefly on grasslands, in gardens and lightly wooded areas.

During the breeding season,it is often seen carrying large grass leaves as it tries building its nest in a suitable place.

 

Ashy Prinia

“One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken.”
—Leo Tolstoy

The Future After Corona Virus

What does the future hold for human society and the environment?

The future looks very bleak and depressing from the point of view of humans. It is hoped that this corona virus pandemic triggers a change in our entire out-look towards human relationships and social interactions, leading to far-reaching impacts in the near- and long-term future after the world recovers. We would have paid a very heavy price for the recovery in terms of human lives and may face an extended economic depression mirroring that of the 1930s.

As more and more people struggle to hold on to jobs in an uncertain economic situation, there could a drastic fall in demand for in non-essential goods such as branded leather bags, branded clothes, watches, high end cell phones and cars. Most importantly, non-essential and leisure travel will also be affected as people will avoid spending their hard-earned money on such luxuries.

However, the retail and travel industry make huge profits and employ millions of people. And as a large proportion of the population stops buying and spending, these industries would be unable to produce, sell or market themselves. As a consequence, the millions of jobs lost would be impossible to recover for years to come.

There would be countless people who would have lost high paying jobs, many more would be left with just enough financial resources to manage a reasonable lifestyle and those who would just about eke out a living doing odd jobs.

The lockdown would have helped people in increasing social contact with family and friends, though staying apart for long periods of time could increase mental stress and possible depression among several sections of the working class, notably the healthcare workers, police, airline and shipping staff. People would also accept the fact that they can get through life without resorting to high-cost non-essential goods and eating in restaurants on a regular basis. Reducing physical proximity also being an efficient control strategy for preventing spread of infectious disease, people will be more tuned to proper hygiene and in turn a drastic reduction on restaurant spending and taxi trade is also a possibility.

It is time for the government to grab this opportunity

The current generation would no doubt be blamed for mess that we find ourselves in. Excessive consumption of natural resources without any regard for sustainability of the ecosystem has characterized the lifestyle habits of a large proportion of the population. This has already had an adverse impact on the natural ecosystems and wildlife. The corona virus pandemic is the result of our disregard for nature, for mis-utilization of resources to the extent of bringing us to the threshold of no-return.

The Millennials and future generations would never forgive us if we let go this opportunity to make a difference and pledge to change our world, “to make it a better place”, to understand that “the world does not belong to us, we belong to the world”.
Let us make a start towards making it a better place for our children, grand-children and generations to come.

Suggestions for the government when the lock-down is slowly relaxed in different parts of the country

The government must consider allowing people to cycle to their workplaces, using dedicated bicycle lanes. Present lack of traffic on the roads maybe used to mark-out these lanes and re-lay the roads and change traffic signal operations to prioritize cycle traffic.
This will have an added advantage of ensuring that only those who are fit and free from infection will venture out on a regular basis.

When roads are re-opened for vehicular traffic, personal cars and two-wheelers should be allowed to operate only on odd-even basis (The New Delhi traffic plan can used as a template for all the cities). This will automatically free-up road space for public transport buses and reduce pollution of greenhouse gases. Public transportation for school children and senior citizens can be made free of charge.

To ensure that social distancing norms are followed by everyone, all factories, industries and offices, banks, private companies, schools and colleges, tutorials, including government offices should work on alternate days only, irrespective of weekends and public holidays.

This should be made applicable even for grocery stores and consumer retail outlets (electronics, textile, furniture, etc) and restaurants. Similarly, malls and cinema halls also should operate on alternate days.

Industries which require continuous operations, such as food, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, automobiles maybe allowed to work on daily basis with staff alternating each day.

Industries like IT must be forced to have half of their employees work from home.

These suggestions are radical and extreme. But, considering the dangers of the corona virus, mitigating measures also must be radical. When the entire population works on alternate days, the burden on infrastructure is reduced by 50%. By foregoing all weekends and holidays for the next 2 years, we can ensure that productivity and efficiency is not reduced and at the same time keep the virus at bay.

The Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth