Jairam Ramesh highlights Indira Gandhi's pivotal role in starting Great Indian Bustard conservation. A 1976 meeting with an ecologist in Udaipur led to the creation of the Desert National Park, a key step in saving the critically endangered bird.
Indira Gandhi's Udaipur Visit Sparked Conservation Efforts
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday raised concern over the Great Indian Bustard being a critically endangered species, while recalling an anecdote on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's visit to Udaipur, which he said "triggered the conservation programme" for the bird.
In an X post, Jairam Ramesh described Indira Gandhi's meeting with ecologist Harsh Vardhan, then a member of the Rajasthan Wild Life Board, as the spark for the conservation programme and the establishment of the Desert National Park near Jaisalmer and Barmer.
Ramesh wrote, "50 years ago today, Indira Gandhi went to Haldighati to mark the 400th anniversary of the famed battle there that made Maharana Pratap inspirational and immortal. She addressed a huge public gathering there. On the morning flight to Udaipur, she happened to come across the day's edition of the Hindustan Times. The front page carried an unusual picture--that of the Great Indian Bustard, which was facing near-extinction. There was a news report on page 4 that she also read. On landing in Udaipur, she met with some bird enthusiasts led by Harsh Vardhan, then a member of the Rajasthan Wild Life Board."
"This sequence of events triggered the conservation programme for the Great Indian Bustard as well as steps to establish the sprawling Desert National Park near Jaisalmer and Barmer," he added.
The Bustard's Historical Context and Current Status
Ramesh recalled that the Great Indian Bustard was proposed to be the national bird before the peacock was chosen for historical and cultural reasons.
"The Great Indian Bustard is still critically endangered and continues to face several threats. But hopes have been kept alive since that flight to Udaipur on June 21, 1976. It had actually been proposed as the national bird by none other than the famed ornithologist Salim Ali in 1961. However, two years later, the Indian Board for Wildlife, chaired by the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, had selected the peacock as the national bird for compelling historical, mythological, cultural, and religious reasons," the Congress leader posted.
The Great Indian Bustard is a critically endangered species. However, in April, a significant milestone was achieved in the conservation of the endangered Godawan, or Great Indian Bustard, in Jaisalmer, with the birth of three new chicks at the district's two special breeding centres.
According to Brijmohan Gupta, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) of the Desert National Park (DNP), the total population of GIBs at the two centres has now reached 82. (ANI)
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