JOIN USWater bowls for strays are out again
With the temperature soaring in Bengaluru, volunteer groups and residents have started keeping water bowls out for animals and birds across the neighbourhoods.
Some do it all year, some get active when the weather turns hot, usually from March and April. But this year, a few have been putting water bowls and birdbaths on terraces, balconies and outside entry gates of their apartments since February because of the exceptionally sunny and dry weather, they say.
Jain Sunny Hasteimal runs Water For Voiceless, an NGO that distributes free water bowls to residents and organisations in multiple cities — about 100 every day through the summer. It also encourages people to click the photos of animals and birds drinking water out of the bowls they place and share it forward to mobilise others.
“We usually see a spike in demand during the summer months, from March-end. But this time, we saw a spike from February 1 itself,” he claims.
His NGO has distributed 33,000-plus bowls since its inception in 2015 but “50% of them have gone to Bengalureans,” he says. “We have a bigger network of volunteers and distribution points here, once every 15 km,” the resident of Tumakuru explains why.
These bowls are made of cement as it keeps the water cooler. These come in two sizes — the small can hold 2-3 litres of water and can be easily placed in balconies or terraces for birds, and the big can store 10-12 litres, ideal for stray animals, including cows.
Engineering student Sriram P S and volunteers of his group Feed Your Stray hit the streets from March-end every year, keeping small water bowls outside shops in south Bengaluru. Despite the blistering heat this year, he doesn’t want to advance his timeline. “We don’t want our distribution drive to overlap with that of other groups. It will be an unnecessary duplication of efforts,” the 22-year-old founder explains.
His group refills these bowls kept outside the shops three days a week. On other days, shopkeepers do. They place bigger bowls of 8-litre capacity under trees in public grounds for birds and cows.
Home run
Then there are individuals doing their bit. Such as Ekta Gupta, who runs an HR consultancy. Admittedly, she ramps up her efforts during the hot season, keeping small bowls of water for birds in every balcony of her two-floor home inside a gated community on Bannerghatta Road. “My husband has built a small water fountain in the balcony. The fountain is like a reservoir for pigeons to drink, take a dip, and play.”
She also keeps a trough on the roof. “I use it to grow the lotus but in the summer, I use it to offer clean water to birds,” says Ekta, for whom feeding animals and birds has been a family tradition. “I refill around noon to ensure birds get cool water,” she says.
Amateur bird photographers also treat their favourite subject to sips of cool water. Such as retired IT professional Chandar N. “I keep water in a terracotta pan in front of my house. Surprisingly, this summer, I have not sighted a single bulbul or sunbird drinking from it. Maybe they are scared of cats in the community. I now plan to shift the pan to (the much-guarded) balcony of my house,” says the resident of Rainbow Drive Layout off Sarjapur Road.
Chandar ensures the bowl is full at all times and also free of grime, moss, and worms, which Jain highly recommends.
“I urge people to keep water bowls year-round because animals and birds fall sick by drinking dirty drain water,” Jain signs off.
Contact volunteering groups at waterforvoiceless.com, and feedyourstray.org
‘Dehydration can prove fatal’
Dr Balaji Chandrashekar, a veterinarian in the city, says animals and birds can stay without food for two-three days on average but not a single day without water. He says dehydration can impair their renal and cardiac functioning, and even prove to be fatal. “They should drink water equivalent to approx five per cent of their body weight daily. This applies to both the pet and street animals,” he points out.