Arachandi
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Arachandi Pakhi Surakhya Samiti
Minati Singha, Dec 26, 2023: The Times of India
Winged Visitors, Guarded By The Love Of A Dozen Women
A conservation group of 12 rural homemakers, who receive no institutional support, watch over migratory birds which flock to Odisha’s Arachandi wetland
Bhubaneswar : They come in hundreds every winter. And every year, they are watched over and cared for by a dozen.
Arachandi is one of Odisha’s pristine wetlands. Surrounded by paddy fields, this 1.2 square km area is the winter home for migratory birds: Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Wigeon, Painted Stork, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Comb Duck, Grey Headed Lapwing, Common Snipe, Ruddy Shelduck, Red Crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Black-headed Ibis, Grey Heron, Purple Heron and Ruddy Shelducks.
From September to March, Arachandi is an ornithologist’s or even an amateur birder’s idea of paradise. But, of course, humans, poaching and/or polluting, are a threat.
Standing up to them is a group of 12 local women — founding members of the Arachandi Pakhi Surakhya Samiti — from the nearby Nistipur village. The members visit the wetland every day, cleaning the area from litter. And they are determined proselytisers for conservation.
Suryakanti Mohanty, a homemaker, says she noticed a few years back some people were killing these birds for meat. And the rising number of birdwatchers meant pollution. “I felt something had to be done. I discussed with other women of my village…first we spread the message through male members of our family. When that worked, we went out with placards requesting visitors not to disturb the birds,” Mohanty said.
“When we noticed the migratory birds were hunting food in paddy fields, we requested farmers to keep farming organic, which is not only good for birds but for producers,” says Snehanjali Biswal, a member of the group. The women also request visitors, whether to the wetlands or to the Arachandi Temple, not to play loud mu sic, and keep the area plasticfree. Their unlikely allies in conservation are crocodiles. Crocs who live in the shallow waters of Arachandi are a strong deterrent for humans who fancy a spot of fishing. The efforts are paying off. Arachandi attracts more winged visitors now than before, per Lalit Mohan Panda, secretary of the Centre for Rural Tourism and Development, a voluntary organisation that conducts an annual bird census in Arachandi.
But there’s only so much a dozen people can do, even if their determination is fierce. Ornithologist Gahar Abedin says, “Arachandi has a huge potential for bird-watching and rural tourism.” Arachandi needs government support, says former honorary wildlife warden of Khurda, Subhendu Mallik. Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu host India’s best examples of agro-eco tourism around wetlands. Hopefully so will Odisha. “We will conduct a survey and take steps for the development of the wetland…and support the conservation initiatives by local women groups,” Susanta Nanda, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Odisha, told TOI.
The women of Nistipur, though, will not wait for government officials. They will keep doing what they do because they love the birds.
“Pairs of Ruddy Shelduck are my favourite. They are great lovers. You will never see alone Ruddy Shelduck. If one of them dies, the other starves to death,” Mohanty says.
The Ruddy Shelducks, and every other bird in Arachandi, are guarded by love.
