Ranchi: At a time when sparrows are increasingly dwindling in numbers owing to rapid urbanisation, Pannalal Mahto from Ramgarh district, along with his nephew Om Prakash, are working to reverse the trend in their village and adjoining areas.A self-taught conservationist, Mahto over the years has been working to safeguard birds and can even mimic their voices to communicate with them.“We have built more than 850 artificial nests and placed them in four villages in Kundru Kalan gram panchayat of Ramgarh district, including our village, Saraiya, since Nov-Dec last year. The breeding season is on and we have got good results so far,” Mahto told TOI on World Sparrow Day on Friday. “At Siraiya, in 250 artificial nests we placed at various houses, 22 pairs of sparrows are nesting,” he said.“Earlier, sparrows often built their nests in brick wells and in houses. Nowadays, people cover the brick walls of wells with cement, while other nesting places are vanishing. Radiation from mobile phones, loss of habitat and unavailability of food have put their existence in peril,” he added.Prakash said that artificial nests are made of recycled wooden materials. In Kundru Kalan GP area, he said that almost 70% of nests are full.“A total of 525 nests were installed in the first phase, followed by 550 artificial nests in the second phase in the whole panchayat area. Nearly 70% of these nests were occupied by sparrows,” Prakash said, adding that other birds such as oriental magpie robin and purple sunbird were also spotted.Jharkhand’s principal chief conservator of forests, Sanjeev Kumar, acknowledged Mahto’s efforts. “Insecticides and pesticides in crops, on which the sparrows feed, are also causing problems,” he said.Divisional forest officer (DFO), Ajinkya Bankar, said, “Sparrows have always been staying near human habitations. With urbanisation, open areas are shrinking and their population in cities has dwindled. Now, with modern waste management systems, there has been a scarcity of food too for sparrows.”
