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Harike wetland breeds trouble for winged guests
The number of migratory birds visiting Harike wetland, near Kapurthala, in winter has decreased over the years. Weeds and pollutants are ruining the habitat of these winged guests, reports Deepkamal Kaur

Cultural extravaganza for students
An inter-college youth festival for education colleges affiliated with Guru Nanak Dev University was recently held at Lovely Institute of Education here. The last day on Monday started with bhajan competition adding a spiritual touch to the vibrantly festival in which teams from 15 colleges participated.

Market Buzz
Seasons Furnishings Ltd, a Delhi-based company, inaugurated its showroom on the Nakodar Road here yesterday. On the occasion, Mr Mandeep Singh Wadhwa, the firm’s Managing Director, said this was the third store of the company in Punjab after Ludhiana and Amritsar.

Harike wetland breeds trouble for winged guests

The number of migratory birds visiting Harike wetland, near Kapurthala, in winter has decreased over the years. Weeds and pollutants are ruining the habitat of these winged guests, reports Deepkamal Kaur

Even as Harike wetland along the confluence of the Sutlej and the Beas has assumed international importance as a breeding ground and habitat for a large variety of migratory as well as “domiciled” birds, little effort seems to have been made to conserve it.

Harike History A shallow reservoir at the site was created in 1953 by the construction of a barrage on the confluence of the Sutlej and the Beas. The Harike Lake was declared a 41 sq km wildlife sanctuary in 1982 by the government. Later, considered as a wetland of international importance, it was included in the List of Ramsar Sites in 1990. The sanctuary area was increased in 1992 to 86 sq km. From 1980 to 1985, the Bombay Natural History Society carried out research and bird ringing programme here. Harike was also the subject of a 1994 publication by WWF-India as part of their series on the Ramsar Sites of India. In 1998, Punjab ordered the constitution of the Harike Wetland Conservation Mission with an objective of preparing a master plan for the integrated conservation and development of Harike wetland.

Water hyacinth infestation, tall grasses and other weeds, silting and pollution have eaten up a vast space in the 86 sq km stretch of this largest wetland of Punjab, leaving very small patches for birds to rest, breed and roost.

Though gulls, geese, gadwalls and ducks were sighted at the Harike Bird Sanctuary this week, they could be seen swimming in small stretches of water, as most space had been occupied by water hyacinth that formed huge mats. Flocks of exotic birds and varieties of local birds such as cormorants, herons and storks had to fly across these hyacinth mats to move about in different directions.

Sources in the sanctuary revealed that hyacinth growth was adversely affecting the biological diversity of the wetland by creating anaerobic conditions, leading to reduction in the number of fish. Incidentally, fish is believed to constitute the major part of the diet of waterfowls visiting this wetland. The hyacinth growth is also believed to be a hindrance to motor boats, as the boats often get trapped in the mesh formed by this “floating nightmare”.

Alarmingly, wildlife officials have also said that the number of migratory birds coming to this part of the region had been going down for the past few years. The reason, it has been suggested, could be that the winged species are probably not getting a good breeding ground, and their habitat and aquatic diet have been adversely affected. Pollutants coming via the Sutlej were also causal factors in the habitat degradation, the officials added.

But surprisingly, the officials of the departments of wildlife, forest, animal husbandry and pollution have hardly done anything to conserve the wetland. Huge machines equipped with conveyor belts available with the wildlife department at the site are gathering dust, as these have not been used at least for the past 18 months.

The only major exercise that was ever undertaken to prevent choking of the vast water body due to excessive growth of water hyacinth was by the Vajra Corps of the Army in 2000. The Army demonstrated the effective use of innovative mechanical system of weed removal.

Former honorary Wildlife Warden of Gurdaspur, Mr Sukhdeep Bajwa, said the number of migratory birds coming to the wetland of Punjab had decreased for the past few years due to hyacinth growth, decrease in the number of fish, lowering of water level in water bodies, and pollution. He said many people were also poisoning the birds using Furadone on wheat grains on which the birds fed. He said the birds died within minutes of eating the grains laced with that odourless and tasteless poison. Besides, he said, large portions of the wetland had been drained out for cultivation.

Mr Bajwa said the number of geese and cranes coming to the wetland had dropped significantly. He said the variety of ducks coming there had also decreased considerably.

Mr A.S. Dogra, Director, Wildlife, was not available for his comments.

Cultural extravaganza for students
Tribune News Service

An inter-college youth festival for education colleges affiliated with Guru Nanak Dev University was recently held at Lovely Institute of Education here. The last day on Monday started with bhajan competition adding a spiritual touch to the vibrantly festival in which teams from 15 colleges participated. Music was all in the breeze as geet and ghazal competitions demonstrated the finest singing talents from the university.

The host team won the Overall Trophy.

Dr A.S. Dua, Dean College Development Council, was the chief guest for the valedictory function.

Following are the results of various competitions held during the festival:

Painting (landscape): Government College of Education, Jalandhar (1), Guru Nanak College of Education for Women, Kapurthala (2), and Khalsa College of Education, Amritsar (3).

Painting (still life) : Khalsa College of Education, Amritsar (1), O.P. Memorial Institute of Education, Dyalpur (2) and Government College of Education (3).

Cartooning : Lovely Institute of Education, Phagwara (1), Khalsa College of Education, Amritsar (2) and Government College of Education, Jalandhar (3).

Rangoli: Lovely Institute of Education, Phagwara (1), Khalsa College of Education, Amritsar (2), and DAV College of Education for Women, Amritsar (3).

Phulkari: Khalsa College of Education, Amritsar (1), Khalsa College of Education, Nawanshahr (2) and Lovely Institute of Education, Phagwara (3).

Quiz: MGN College of Education, Jalandhar (1), Ramgarhia College of Education, Phagwara, and DAV College, Amritsar (2) and Army Institute of Higher Education, Pathankot (3).

Histrionics: Khalsa College, Amritsar (1), DAV College of Education for Women, Amritsar (2) and Khalsa College, Amritsar, and GN College of Education, Kapurthala (3).

Mimicry: Khalsa College, Amritsar (1), Lovely Institute, Phagwara (2), and DAV College, Amritsar (3).

Skit: DAV College, Amritsar (1), Lovely Institute, Phagwara (2), and Khalsa College of Education, Amritsar (3).

Gidha: DAV College of Education (1), Guru Gobind Singh College of Education, Kapurthala (2) and Lovely Institute, Phagwara (3).

Folk song: Lovely Institute, Phagwara (1), St Soldier College, Jalandhar (2) and Sai College of Education (3).

Market Buzz
Tribune News Service

Seasons Furnishings Ltd, a Delhi-based company, inaugurated its showroom on the Nakodar Road here yesterday.

On the occasion, Mr Mandeep Singh Wadhwa, the firm’s Managing Director, said this was the third store of the company in Punjab after Ludhiana and Amritsar. He said the company had come up with exclusive designs and textures for furnishing material used in sofas, cushions, curtains and bed covers.

He said the company was exporting most of its products to the UK, Belgium, Italy and other European countries. A wide variety of mix and match designs and materials would also be available in the showroom, he added.

Road show: Challenging dare devils to showcase their adventurous side, Mountain Dew held a two-day road show.

Students from various colleges displayed their stunts outside various spots, including Lyallpur Khalsa College, Adarsh Nagar Market and Narinder Cinema. The events in which the youngsters tested their skills included ‘break free’, ‘reflex shocker’, ‘skate board’ and ‘power ball’. The final show was held at Haveli.

Winter collection: Monte Carlo announced the launching of an exclusive range of women collection in its city’s showroom.

Ms Monica Oswal, Executive Director of Oswal Woollen Mills, said the collection consisted of exquisite range of winter wear, including jackets, coats, printed tops, cardigans, twin sets, ponchos and sweaters. He said the sweaters were embellished with embroideries, hemstitch works, double laces and crochet.