Migratory birds flock in Vaigai river: TN bird lovers want govt to prevent polluting river

Chennai, Feb 13 (BPNS)

With a huge presence of migratory birds reaching Vaigai river in the Madurai district of Tamil Nadu, environmentalists and bird watchers have urged the Madurai district administration and Tamil Nadu government to prevent people from polluting the river by throwing sewage waste and plastic waste into the river.

Sankaran Suryanarayanan, an avid bird watcher and naturalist based out of Madurai while speaking to BPNS said,” There was a heavy flow of migratory birds into the Vaigai river and surrounding areas. A large number of visitors are reaching here to watch the birds that arrive here. While the current season is about to end, the government of Tamil Nadu and the Madurai district administration must take action to prevent the river Vaigai from being polluted by unscrupulous elements.”

It is to be noted that the Vaigai river flows 12 km within the Madurai city limits from Vilangudi till Viraganur dam and branches out at 36 places. Some people who live in the banks of the river are illegally releasing sewage into the river which leads to pollution in the river and affects the water species that live in the river.”

The migratory birds have arrived in large numbers in the Vaigai river and its surroundings and the birds that reached the river include, Black wing stilts, egrets, and Asian Openbills.

Mukundurajan, an environmentalist and research scholar while speaking to BPNS said, “A large number of migratory birds have nested in the water bodies through the Madurai district, the migratory birds will be in search of food and will have to feed for themselves and the newborns and pollution of Vaigai which is the main source of water in the district should not be allowed. Government and district administration must take stringent action against this menace.”

The environmentalist also said that the state government and Tamil Nadu forest department must take initiative to preserve irrigation tanks in Avaniyapuram, Karisalkulam, and a few other tanks where the migratory birds arrive for nesting.

He also said that most of the tanks are being polluted due to the dumping of garbage and sewage and called upon the district administration to take stringent action against the erring people.