Villages shun bursting crackers to save birds at nearby sanctuary

For decades, residents of Kollukudipatti, Vettangudi, and Krishnapuram in Sivaganga district have shunned bursting firecrackers to avoid scaring thousands of birds that flock at the nearby Vettangudi bird sanctuary.

This year is no exception for the three villages. For them, Deepavali means just exchanging sweets and wearing new clothes as the hamlets are located within three kilometre radius of the bird sanctuary which is spread across 32.7 hectares.

As a mark of appreciation for the villagers' decision, the Forest Department has been distributing half-kg sweets to all residents of the three villages on every Deepavali. This year, Sivaganga District Collector J Jeyakanthan drove to the village and handed over sweets to residents of the three villages and applauded them for sticking to their decision of not bursting crackers in the interests of birds.

The Vettangudi birds sanctuary is a natural habitat of winter migratory birds which fly from as far as Switzerland, Russia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. A safe place for roosting, breeding, and feeding, the sanctuary attracts nearly 15,000 birds a year.

V Selvaraj of Kollukudipatti, just 500 metres from the bird sanctuary, said the villagers had been boycotting crackers for over four decades now after the Vettangudi bird sanctuary came into being in 1972.

“I am 62 years old and I do not remember me bursting crackers or hearing the sound of a cracker in my village. We do it to ensure that the birds do not get scared of the sound. The villagers do not complain at all,” he told DH over the phone.

Not just Deepavali. The villagers do not burst crackers even during marriages and kovil thiruvizhas (temple festivals). “We have a Birds Welfare Committee to ensure compliance of rules that have been set by the villagers. Usually people do not burst crackers or go against the decision of the committee. If they violate rules, we do act against them,” Selvaraj added.

Inspired by the example set by the three villages, another hamlet in Sivaganga district, which hit headlines in July for switching off street lights to save the hatchlings of an Indian Robin which built its nest in the main switchboard, has also decided not to burst any firecrackers this Deepavali season.

“We youngsters of Pothakudi village in Sivaganga district have decided not to burst crackers this year in the interests of the birds that live in our neighbourhood. It is the collective decision of the village that helped us save the hatchlings,” Karuppu Raja, a resident of Pothakudi, told DH.

However, Raja said children will just light sparklers as they should not feel disappointed. “No sound-emitting cracker will be allowed,” he added.

A Mathivaanan, Forest Range Officer, Thiruppathur, said the sanctuary currently has over 3,000 birds from different countries and the villagers' decision not to burst crackers is music to the ears of the feathered creatures. “The villagers are very cooperative and it is not an easy thing to shun firecrackers for 40 years. People who live near the sanctuary love birds and are very concerned about ecology,” he added.