To all those who think Punjabis can only kill birds and consume meat in quintals, , Bipin Bhardwaj tells they can be saviours too...

Village given to peacock conservation (published in The Tribune on February 21,2009)

Bipin Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service

Boparai Kalan (Nakodar), February 20

Balbir Singh gets up from his cot, takes maize from bags inside a room and scatters the grains on the roof of house. The old man has been doing it as routine for 15 years to conserve national bird peacock.

Decline in the peacock population spurred Boparai Kalan residents to take up peacock conservation project. The project has paid off and in a decade peacock population has increased to over 200 in the village.

Due to excessive use of pesticides and insecticides by farmers, population of this bird has been on the decline for a few years. The Forest and Wildlife Department has not conducted census to know the population of the national bird in the state.

Vacant houses of the NRIs have been inhabited by scores of peacocks. The presence of peacocks in the houses of NRIs, which otherwise wear a deserted look, are of charm to the villagers now.
Recalling the days, almost 40 to 45 years ago, when the village was known for peacocks , Balbir Singh, former sarpanch, says poaching of the bird by hunters and landlords of the surrounding areas had ruined the beauty of the area.

However, he gives credit to late Gurbachan Singh and Bhajan Singh, former sarpanch and panch, respectively, for nurturing pair of peacock chicks almost 25 years ago when the village was left with not even a single bird. As a result, today the population of the bird is over 200.
Taking up the peacock conservation project and following in the footsteps of the elderly the villagers started feeding the birds, says Pritpal Singh, a resident.


“The peacocks have become permanent residents of the village, especially in bungalows where human beings are rarely seen. The birds roam on terraces and ground as the villagers feed them,” he adds.


Jaspal Singh, another resident, said villagers were feeding the birds foodgrains and birds hardly go to the fields, thus being away from pesticides and insecticides used there.


Chief Wildlife Warden, Punjab, RK Luna lauded Boparai Kalan village for taking up peacock conservation in Jalandhar district. “I am hearing this for the first time that peacock population has gone so high in a particular village. There is also one another spot (between Moga and Muktsar) where people feed peacocks along a canal,” he said.


He added the department had no figures on peacock population in the state and a census was required.

(Bipin Bhardawaj is Staff Reporter with The Tribune, Jalandhar)