The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Birdwatchers in a flutter over restaurant at Nandi Hills

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Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009
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Birdwatchers in a flutter over restaurant at Nandi Hills

Divya Gandhi

The rare Niligiri Woodpigeon, among
125 birds, finds
habitat here

The rare Niligiri Woodpigeon is distinguished by a black and white pattern on the nape of its neck.

BANGALORE: The city’s avid birdwatchers who find a haven in the Nandi Hills — habitat to 125 bird species — are in a flutter over a sprawling restaurant proposed by the Horticulture Department for this tourist hotspot.

The one-acre large food court, which includes a landscaped lawn, could destroy or severely disturb the evergreen shola forests that are home to the threatened Nilgiri Woodpigeon (Columba elphinstonii) and other rare birds, according to ornithologist S. Subramanya.

With the Rs. 80-lakh open-air food court, planned to come up near the Old School building, the Horticulture Department hopes to replace the eateries that dot the hill station and reduce litter.

Nandi Hills has the distinction of being the only place outside the Western Ghats where this large pigeon, distinguished by a prominent “checkerboard” pattern on its nape, is found, said Dr. Subramanya.

He added that the food court could permanently destroy the forests where the woodpigeons — as well as bulbuls, thrushes, warblers and flycatchers — thrive.

The woodpigeon finds a place in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list” as a “vulnerable” species that “has undergone a major decline, which is thought to be continuing owing to ongoing forest loss.”

There is a small population of around 15 Nilgiri Woodpigeons in the Nandi Hills, said Dr. Subramanya. “They are considered a ‘relic population’ and no one knows how they came to live here so many kilometres away from the Western Ghats,” he said.

Another controversial proposal for the Nandi Hills is a bandstand equipped with loudspeakers, which birdwatchers fear could repel birds too. According to an official from the Horticulture Department, Rs. 30 lakh was released on Saturday by the Tourism Department for the bandstand, which will be used for cultural programmes.

The official, however, said that the food court will not require trees to be felled and that “only shrubs would be cleared”. He added that the proposal was being scrutinised by the Public Works Department.

“The food court would be best situated in a place like the common picnic area where there is a eucalyptus grove,” says Dr. Subramanya.

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