He teaches English but better understands the language of the sparrow.
He teaches English but better understands the language of the sparrow. The once household bird, which is facing extinction, has found a saviour in Sandeep Chahal, a lecturer at Doaba College, Jalandhar.
Once through with his classes, Chahal picks up a hammer and cardboard pieces and begins building nests for passer domesticus indicus, the biological name of the chirpy little winged creature.
According to an official survey, the sparrow population in Punjab has dwindled by 70-80% in the past 10 years or so.
“The rays transmitted by mobile towers have taken a heavy toll on the sparrow,” Chahal, who is on a mission to save the bird, said.
Inspired by the efforts of Royal Society for Protection of Birds, he launched NGO Dastak Welfare Council for protection of house sparrows. The group has more than 150 members coming from diverse backgrounds.
Chahal said besides the high number of mobile towers dotting Punjab’s skyline, reckless use of pesticides had caused decimation of the tender species. He slammed a Punjab Agriculture University circular advising farmers to add traces of pesticides to grains eaten by birds.
Another reason for the dip in sparrow count was the disappearance of kitchen gardens or natural habitats.
“I prepare nests and distribute them among bird-lovers,” Chahal said.
It takes a week to 10 days to prepare one nest. “I learnt it myself. I make sure every nest is comfortable for a sparrow to live and breed,” Chahal, who distributes the nests for free, said.
Till date, he has distributed about 350 nests made of water and termite-proof wooden material. Chahal makes sure his nests are not used for decoration purpose but provide a resting place to sparrows in distress.
“I give a nest only to people who I find are committed to the cause of birds,” he said.
Chahal has been pursuing this passion for more than three years and claims the number of house sparrows in the region has started to grow. He estimates the bird’s numbers in Jalandhar to have gone up by around 5,000 in the past three years.
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