3-day state bird festival to be held from Jan 15 in Bihar's Jamui district

 A three-day state bird festival titled 'Kalrav' will be held from January 15 in Bihar's Jamui district to create awareness about birds especially migratory birds, an official said.

The first state bird festival will be organised between January 15 to 17, in Nagi-Nakti bird sanctuaries in Jamui district as migratory birds visit the sanctuaries in large numbers during this season, the official said.

The main event will be organised in Nagi bird sanctuary while some other events and activities will be organised in Nakti bird sanctuary which is located around 5-6 km away from Nagi sanctuary.

"This is for the first time that the state will be holding a three-day state bird festival. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will inaugurate the state bird festival which will also be graced by department's minister and Dy CM Tarkishore Prasad and other dignitaries," Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department's Principal Secretary Dipak Kumar Singh told PTI.

The idea behind organising the bird festival in the state is to sensitise and create awareness among the people about birds especially about migratory birds, Singh said.Bird experts, ornithologists, conservationists from Bihar and outside the state will also participate at the festival, he added.Entry is free for participating in the festival, the principal secretary said, adding that school children will also participate in the festival besides department will encourage people to grace the event so that they can know about birds and nature.A fee will be charged for participating in certain activities which will be held during the three day festival, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Jamui, Satyajeet Kumar told PTI.

The activities which will be held during the festival include - bird race, bird quiz for kids/school children, cycle rally, kho kho, kabaddi, boating, bird watching, painting competition, Kumar said.

There will be other attractions at the festival that include - digital infotainment such as giant selfie stick, digital flipbook, magic box, sling shot, he said.

Besides, there will be stalls too on bamboo handicraft, sikki grass art, marble sculpting, souvenir counter, organic farming, Moring powder stall, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) pavillion, he said. BNHS is a wildlife research organisation promoting the cause of nature conservation across the country.

Asked as to why the two bird sanctuaries have been chosen for the event, Bharat Chintapalli, DFO Bhagalpur, said that the two bird sanctuaries of Nagi and Nakti (in Jamui forest division) have a rich bird habitat which has been historically ignored and that's why we have chosen the two bird sanctuaries to project them both at national and international stage.

Bhagalpur forest division is also assisting in organising the festival as it is a state-level festival, Chintapalli said.

There are states such as Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Nagaland, Goa which also host state-level bird festival, he said. 

(IMAGE CREDITS:PTI)