India's oldest water bird sanctuary under threat?

Situated 75-kms away from Chennai is Vedathangal bird sanctuary, established during British rule in 1858. A 74-acre protected area, it is home to around 40,000 birds out of which 26 are protected species. Migratory birds come during November to March from different climactic and time zones of the world from Bangladesh to Siberia.

Recently, the sanctuary was in the eye of a controversy when the Tamil Nadu government decided todenotify the area of the location and reduce its outer periphery from 5 kms to 3 kms. There were reports in the media that a few pharmaceutical companies in the vicinity would stand to benefit.

For the present, however peace prevails in the area and the villagers are leading the agitation and have been successful in making their point felt. Of course, online media had gone viral with the news. Now all eyes are on the sanctuary, which has been protected by the villagers since two centuries.