3-day state bird festival to be held from Jan 15 in Bihar's Jamui district

A three-day state bird festivaltitled 'Kalrav' will be held from January 15 in Bihar's Jamuidistrict to create awareness about birds especially migratorybirds, an official said.

The first state bird festival will be organisedbetween January 15 to 17, in Nagi-Nakti bird sanctuaries inJamui district as migratory birds visit the sanctuaries inlarge numbers during this season, the official said.

The main event will be organised in Nagi birdsanctuary while some other events and activities will beorganised in Nakti bird sanctuary which is located around 5-6km away from Nagi sanctuary.

''This is for the first time that the state will beholding a three-day state bird festival. Chief Minister NitishKumar will inaugurate the state bird festival which will alsobe graced by department's minister and Dy CM Tarkishore Prasadand other dignitaries,'' Environment, Forest and Climate ChangeDepartment's Principal Secretary Dipak Kumar Singh told PTI.

The idea behind organising the bird festival in thestate is to sensitise and create awareness among the peopleabout birds especially about migratory birds, Singh said.

Bird experts, ornithologists, conservationists fromBihar and outside the state will also participate at thefestival, he added.

Entry is free for participating in the festival, theprincipal secretary said, adding that school children willalso participate in the festival besides department willencourage people to grace the event so that they can knowabout birds and nature.

A fee will be charged for participating in certainactivities which will be held during the three day festival,Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Jamui, Satyajeet Kumar toldPTI.

The activities which will be held during the festivalinclude - bird race, bird quiz for kids/school children, cyclerally, kho kho, kabaddi, boating, bird watching, paintingcompetition, Kumar said.

There will be other attractions at the festival thatinclude - digital infotainment such as giant selfie stick,digital flipbook, magic box, sling shot, he said.

Besides, there will be stalls too on bamboohandicraft, sikki grass art, marble sculpting, souvenircounter, organic farming, Moring powder stall, Bombay NaturalHistory Society (BNHS) pavillion, he said. BNHS is a wildliferesearch organisation promoting the cause of natureconservation across the country.

Asked as to why the two bird sanctuaries have beenchosen for the event, Bharat Chintapalli, DFO Bhagalpur, saidthat ''the two bird sanctuaries of Nagi and Nakti (in Jamuiforest division) have a rich bird habitat which has beenhistorically ignored and that's why we have chosen the twobird sanctuaries to project them both at national andinternational stage.'' Bhagalpur forest division is also assisting inorganising the festival as it is a state-level festival,Chintapalli said.

There are states such as Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka,Odisha, Nagaland, Goa which also host state-level birdfestival, he said.