1. February 2014
Ahmad Mohd Khalid
Climate Change impacting the Okhla Bird Sanctuary
New Delhi (India)
I live and work in New Delhi (28.6139° N, 77.2089° E). My place of residence is just beside the Okhla
Bird Sanctuary1 (OBS), a 3.5 lakh km square area formed by creating a barrage on the river Yamuna2
when it just enters the state of Uttar Pradesh3. It is a heaven for bird watchers as it attracts nearly
330 species of birds, including eight species of threatened birds, as per the International Union
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red-list category4 such as Indian and white rumped vultures, Baikal
Teal, Saras craine, Fish eagle, Finn weawer etc to be named among others in the winter months. The
OBS is also a wetland5.
As per Thomas et.al6 and Periera et.al7, climate change is a major threat to biodiversity which puts
pressures on species to move to new climatically suitable areas. It has been observed that over the
last few years the number of birds sighted have started dwindling due to the climate change, land
change pattern and increasing pollution in the OBS. According to the 2013 wetland International
report8, the numbers of birds sighted were 5,545 as compared to 8,751 in 2012 and in early 2000 this
number used to be around 10,0008. Water birds such as Black-headed gull, Northern showel etc have
shown decrease in number as compared to previous years.
Dwindling Bird numbers at the Okhla Bird Sanctury
9
Mr. TK Roy, an ecologist, a conservationist and coordinator of the Asian water bird census of
Wetlands International (WI) feels that, "The temperature is not as low as it used to be around this

2. time of the year a few years ago. Winter birds used to come here by early November and stay till
February -- sometimes March. But now they come late and leave early." His conclusion also seems to
be supported by the fact that over the last few years, the maximum temperature achieved in the
month of November (usually the time the birds arrive) has increased over the years in New Delhi. If
we look over the last 5 years (2008-2012), the High temperature ranges for New Delhi were:
Year
Month
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
November
November
November
November
November
TH (max)
Degree Celcius
30
31
31
32
31
TH (min)
Degree Celcius
25
25
25.5
25.5
25.5
High Temperature Range for New Delhi in November
10
As the numbers of birds are dwindling, Mr. Roy’s hope of recognising the Okhla Bird Sanctury as site
under the 1971 Ramsar Convention11 has also suffered a setback.
One of the other issues is the release of the water from the barrage over the last two years by the
irrigation department for maintenance work during the time the birds arrive has further resulted in
loss of the ecosystem and early departure and less arrival by the birds. Moreover, pollution dumping
in the river from the nearby waste treatment plant further adds havoc to the sanctuary environment.
There is no sensitive ecosystem zone defined by the authorities’ uptill now which can check the
illegal construction, waste dumping activities etc in the OBS region. The state government directive
over this is still pending when the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoeF) has already declared
an area within a radius of 10 Kms as an Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ)12 around national parks, wildlife and
bird sanctuaries. The much debated construction of Kalindi Kunj Bypass project- a connect between
Noida (UP) and South Delhi (Delhi) just beside the sanctuary hardly 120 meters away from edge of
the river has resumed. The Delhi High Court13 in 2006 passed an order prohibiting road construction
within 300 metres from the edge of the river. According to reports last year the court revised the
order and allowed road to be built 120 m away from the river. One thing is clear, this road link may

3. provide better connectivity to people and may be a boon to the real estate business in the region but
for the Bird Sanctuary (a wetland), is going to be a disaster in making.
14
The Kalindi Kunj Bypass allotted land just beside the river basin
I think it’s a high time that the authorities need to understand the climatic complications and take
serious action and measures if they want to save the natural ecosystem (favourable to the birds) of
the sanctuary from the changing climatic patterns, changing land patterns and illegal waste dumping
in the river Yamuna.

4. References:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okhla_Sanctuary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamuna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttar_Pradesh
http://www.iucnredlist.org/.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetland
Thomas CD, Cameron A, Green RE, Bakkenes M, Beaumont LJ, et al. (2004) Extinction risk
from climate change. Nature 427: 145–148
(7) Pereira HM, Leadley PW, Proenca V, Alkemade R, Scharlemann JPW, et al. (2010) Scenarios
for Global Biodiversity in the 21st Century. Science 330: 1496–1501
(8) http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/08/angry-birds-skip-polluted-delhi/
(9) http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/newdelhi/less-birds-visit-okhla-sanctuary-thisyear-but-number-of-species-goes-up/article1-1005973.aspx
(10) http://weatherspark.com/history/33934/2011/New-Delhi-India (keep changing year)
(11) http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-home/main/ramsar/1_4000_0__
(12) http://envfor.nic.in/eco-sensitive_zone
(13) http://www.commonfloor.com/news/kalindi-kunj-bypass-better-connectivity-betweennoida-and-south-dehi-53858
(14) Picture credit - www.wti.org.in