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Modern lifestyle and not radiation has lead to the scarcity of sparrows

Mehek Mehta, a class VI student, won the medal for her research work in the Homi Bhabha Balvaidyanik competition. Prachi Rege speaks to the young researcher, who aims to be an author one day

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"One must push oneself to do all the things they life," says a happy and confident Mehek Mehta, the class VI student of Bombay Scottish, Mahim who won a silver medal for her project, "The Sparrow Project: Decline of Sparrow Population in Urban Areas".

In her research, Mehta, discovered that the mobile towers do not have any effect on habitat of sparrows and other birds. The research project that won her the silver medal at the prestigious Homi Bhabha Balvaidyanik Competition found that the decline in sparrow population was attributed to ecological and environmental changes, and lack of food and nesting places rather than anything else.

The competition consisted of three stages—starting with a theory exam, followed by the practical exam where lab work is assessed based on Physics, Chemistry and Biology. At the third stage, a candidate is selected to conduct a research project which includes field visit, scientific data collection and tabulation of findings and facts.

Mehta, was the chosen candidate this year. "It is believed that mobile tower frequencies interfere with the auditory mechanism of sparrows and disturb their habitat. So I specifically researched on the operating frequencies of the mobile towers and found that the range of spectrum allocated to towers was between 900 MHz to 1800 MHz. This far exceeded the upper limit of the hearing range of the sparrows, which is 250 Hz to 18 Khz," she explains intently. Her field work involved visits to more than 21 places with and without mobile towers, including the Mahim Nature Park, Five Gardens at Dadar, Sarpotdar Udyan at Vokola, Bombay Natural History Society and the Byculla Zoo.

Over a period of six weeks she interviewed caretakers, and collected data on the habitat of sparrows, crows and pigeons. She discovered the reason behind the scarcity in number of sparrows was modern lifestyle and not radiation. "Urbanisation has helped spring up glass buildings making it difficult for the sparrows to build nests. Unlike earlier where grains where dried on the house roof, these days the grains are available in packages at supermarkets,making it difficult for sparrows to find their staple diet of bajra, millet and rice," she points out.

Mehta's interest toward Science is developed through the 'Catch Them young' programme, where she has been trained since her primary school days. Run by educationist Mahendra Karkare, at his private coaching classes Karkare Academy, under this programme, students are groomed in Math and Science right from class II. "We apply a discussuion-based teaching methodology. We don't solve student's difficulties about a particular Math or Science problem. The trainer takes a backseat and lets the child do all the thinking. This helps to develop their skills to think beyond academic work," he states.

Speaking about her other interests, Mehta is quick to mention about her love for writing. "I am writing a book on Marine life and I have already finished 98 pages, "she says beamingly. And while most people would think that her current success would make her want to be a scientist when she grows up, she aims to be a journalist and then eventually an author. "I want to combine my love for English and Science and write books on scientific discoveries," she signs off cheerfully.

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