Army to restore Harike's glory
By Sarbjit Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 28 — The world famous Harike wetland (at the confluence of the Sutlej and the Beas) bordering Amritsar and Ferozepore districts, which has shrunk due to the weed menace, is set to get the attention of the Army.

The Chief of the Army Staff, Gen V.P. Malik, has conceded the request of the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to deploy Army experts as jawans to clear the Harike lake of weeds, especially hyacinth which has virtually choked it. Consequently, the natural habitat of migratory birds has been affected. The large chunk of the lake has been silted up over the years.

Army experts will start their operations against the weed menace within a week or so. Already an extensive exercise has been conducted by the Army officers at the wetland to formulate a programme for carrying out the job. The Army officers concerned have held meetings with officers of the Punjab Government, including Mr Gurmeet Singh, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, and Mr B.C. Bala, Chief Wildlife Warden.

Mr Gurmeet Singh, told TNS here today that a team of experts had been deputed by General Malik for assessing the weed menace. A specific request was made to the Army for the removal of water hyacinth. General Malik had told the Punjab Government authorities that the Army had experts in its ranks for carrying out the weed removal operation from water bodies.

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He said he had got information that the Army experts and jawans would be on the job soon. Without the help of the Army and its experts, it was difficult to remove the hyacinth from the lake area as it was a colossal effort.

Spread over 86 sq km, the Harike wetland has the record of having attracted nearly 400 species of birds, including some rarest of the rate species. The number of bird species at the Harike wetland has overtaken the Bharatpur sanctuary, which has a record of having attracted 373 bird species.

Mr Bala said that ornithologists from Western countries were showing keen interest in the Harike wetland and many of them visit the water body regularly to study possible changes in the pattern of migration of birds with the changing global climatic scenario. Already more than 150 species of migratory winged visitors have been recorded to have come to the Harike wetland.

Mr Gurmeet Singh said as the migratory birds have started reaching the wetland, the job of weed removal would be handled with care to avoid disturbance to the birds. Technical guidance as regards migratory birds and their habitat would be provided by Mr Bala and his staff. All water pockets at the wetland would be cleared of the weed.

The Harike wetland is now finding its mention in the books written with regard to migratory birds world over and it has the potential to become a key area for bird watchers from all over the world. What requires to be done is publicity about the wetland in Western countries.