The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority has stopped cleanup work at Paddapukur, a water body inside Rabindra Sarobar, after birders warned that removing aquatic vegetation during the breeding season could damage nests and threaten chicks. The decision came after bird enthusiasts raised concerns about the unseasonal clearing activity and spotted breeding birds at the pond.
The cleanup began last Saturday and was halted after authorities took note of the concerns. KMDA oversees the upkeep of Rabindra Sarobar. Staff said the water near the pond’s eastern edge had already been cleaned before an order was issued to stop the work.
On Tuesday, birders recorded a bronze-winged jacana with chicks and a white-breasted moorhen at Paddapukur. The sightings reinforced concerns that the pond is being used as a breeding habitat by aquatic birds. Birders said the aquatic plants provide nesting cover and support the food sources required by birds and other organisms in the water body.
Nandita Sarkar, who first flagged the issue, said she was relieved that the cleaning of the lotus pond had been stopped. “The waterbirds can now rear their chicks without threat. On Tuesday morning, I saw bronze-winged jacanas foraging with the chicks. We must care for our environment and its inhabitants, not only humans but also birds and other organisms,” she said.
Birder Avijit Dutta said the cleanup had posed a serious threat to the lake’s inhabitants and the avian fauna that use the aquatic plants to make nests and help their young survive. He said Paddapukur was a favourite breeding habitat supporting a diverse population of flora and fauna. According to Dutta, the vegetation also supports algae, small aquatic insects and small fish that form part of the food chain.
Veteran birder Sudip Ghosh, who has photographed birds at Rabindra Sarobar for more than 15 years, said authorities needed to be more sensitive while handling environmental matters. Nirvan Jain, another bird watcher, said plastic and garbage should be removed, but such work should be planned and carried out at a time that causes the least disturbance to birds and other wildlife.
The halted work places the focus on how routine maintenance in urban lakes is planned around seasonal ecological conditions. In this case, KMDA’s next steps on cleaning the remaining areas of Paddapukur have not been specified in the supplied report.
