Following the reports of several birds being poisoned in Assam’s Barpeta district, a biodiversity conversation group, Aaranyak, expressed deep concern over the incident and urged the concerned authorities to take action against the individuals responsible for their deaths, reports emerged on Tuesday.
Taking to Twitter, Aaranyak wrote, “We express deep concern over massive #BirdDeath reported in Barpeta district of #Assam due to #poisoning. We appeal to village headmen & VDPs to initiate #awareness, also requesting the authority to take actions as per the law.”
In a video circulated on social media platforms, it could be seen the birds reportedly died after consuming crops on which the accused had sprayed poisonous substances to keep them away.
One of the locals told media, “I noticed several birds dying one by one which raised my concern and upon digging deep into the recurrent incidents I found that a man from our village had sprayed poisonous substances on his crops and the birds who consumed those died. I requested them to put a net over the crops to prevent the birds from consuming but they did not pay heed to it.”
After learning about the incident, the CEO of Aaranyak, Dr. Bibhab Kumar Talukdar said, “It is very unfortunate to learn about this large-scale loss of birds due to poisoning. I appeal to village headmen and Village Defence Patrol (VDP) groups to come forward and initiate awareness among villagers.”
