Atapaka Bird Sanctuary, located in Kolleru lake on Krishna-West Godavari borders, was opened for tourists after a gap of eight months. The Forest Department declared the pelicanry open for the public on Friday (January 1).
Thousands of tourists from Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry and other States visit the sanctuary, also known as bird’s paradise, every year.
Due to COVID-19 norms, the tourist spot was closed for eight months. Tourists were being requested to follow COVID protocol while visiting the sanctuary, forest officials said.
The Forest Department set up a park, environmental centre with the paintings and the sounds of the birds visiting the lake, washrooms and other facilities at the sanctuary.
Thousands of birds visit Kolleru, the largest fresh water lake in the country, during winter season. The winged visitors will breed and brood in the mudflats and bushes in the lake and fly off with the young ones.
Increase in numbers
“This year, the number of birds in the lake was very high as Kolleru was filled to the brim due to heavy rain in the last few months. Many birds are roosting in the bushes and the water birds and other small ones laid eggs in the kikkisa grass and hyacinth in the lake,” said Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife Division) C. Selvam.
“The Forest Department, in association with State Bank of India arranged iron stands and created artificial mounds in Atapaka Bird Sanctuary for the winged visitors,” he said.
Kaikalur Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) S.N. Siva Kumar said that pelicans, painted storks, ibis, stilts and other birds were sighted in big numbers in the sanctuary.
“We are counting the birds every Saturday. The number of birds has crossed 10,000 in the sanctuary. Many tourists visited the bird’s paradise on Friday,” said Mr. Siva Kumar.
“More than 150 iron stands have been arranged on the artificial mounds arranged for birds in the lake. Eggs were seen on some stands and the birds hatched the eggs on some mounds,” the ACF said.
“We will treat the birds as our guests. The birds will visit the small water bodies on the lake-bed villages in Krishna and West Godavari districts, and we will not cause any harm to them,” says V. Venkateswara Rao of Penchikalamarru village.
“We visit Atapaka Bird Sanctuary every year. Thousands of birds from Siberia and other parts of the country visited Kolleru lake this year,” said a visitor S. Varshini from Nellore ditrict.
Mr. Selvam said that boating facility was available in the sanctuary. The Forest department had obtained permission for two boats and kept them ready in the lake for the tourists.
