Nelapattu and Vedurupattu villages, Nellore

Nelapattu and Vedurupattu villages, Nellore

since time immemorial these villages have

played hosts to a diverse species of birds such as Asian open-billed stork, black-headed ibis, cranes

and coromorants that visit these villages between the months of October and May for nesting.

These avian visitors avail of their food supply from the neighboring Pulicat lake and breed on

the tamarind trees that are located in and around the fringes of Vedurupattu. Similarly the birds

of Nelapattu reside on the bund, and breed on Barringtonia sp. trees that are located inside the

village and in the tank area. They avail of their food supply from the tank as well as the Pulicat

lake.

The villagers recall that these birds have been visiting their village for generations and that

offering protection to these birds has been an old tradition. The villagers believe that the advent

of the birds in their village is a good omen and a forecast for good monsoons. (Water scarcity

for agricultural purposes is a crucial issue in this region.) The prime occupation of the villagers is

agriculture and paddy is the main crop. The villagers also use bird droppings (guano) as a fertilizer

to enrich their soils.

The villagers are very welcoming and warm-hearted towards the birds and even very young

children are trained not to disturb or cause any harm to them. In the event of any accidental fall

of the young ones from their nests, the village women nurture them and, if required, send them to

the neighbouring Tirupati National Park for treatment. There have been instances of confrontation

faced by the villagers with the neighbouring villages that have attempted poaching.

The Nellapattu tank was a traditional irrigation tank for the villagers. Besides the surrounding

area was being used for grazing purposes by the villagers. In 1997 the forest department (FD)

took over the protection of the Nellapattu tank by declaring it a sanctuary. The intention to declare

the sanctuary was notified on 15 September 1997 wide notification G.O. Ms. No. 107 and the

completion of procedure took a period of about two years. The area of the sanctuary is 4.58 sq.

km. It is now one of the 11 protected areas in Andhra Pradesh. The government did not consider

the utility of the tank for the villagers while declaring it a sanctuary. The people of Nelapattu

were not aware of this decision taken by the government. Later on, with the help of a local NGO

called CAMEL, the villagers came to know about the notification and immediately submitted their

concerns to the Mandal revenue officers and forest officials. On declaration of the sanctuary, the

entire tank area of Nellapattu was fenced off. The entry was restricted only to those visitors who

would come for bird-watching within a specified time during the day. These restrictions imposed

by the FD have caused many hardships to the local villagers.

Subsequently, Nellapattu village was selected as one of the eco-development sites under the

World Bank-supported Andhra Pradesh Forestry project. As part of this scheme an eco-development

committee was formed in the village by the FD. Due to the availability of funds from the scheme,

borewells were also dug for a few beneficiaries, which could only be utilized by the well-to-do

villagers. In addition, smokeless chullahs and solar cookers were also distributed to the members

of the Eco-Development Committees.

The eco-development scheme, however, does not address the fundamental issue of people’s

access to the tank and their traditional relationship with the birds. The activities prescribed in the

plan for village development are neither conceived nor designed with the help of the villagers. In

Nellapattu the villagers complain of no scope for development of fodder and fuel requirements

of the villagers. The digging of borewells has not been able to meet the diverse requirements of

water for crops, cattle and the other needs of the entire village. The

cattle grazing issue has also not been dealt with in the eco-development

scheme. If the cattle are caught within the fenced area, the concerned

villager has to pay a fine. In circumstances like these, many villagers

have been compelled to sell their cattle. The villagers argue that they

were the ones who offered protection to the birds before the FD came

into the picture, and now the needs of the birds have taken priority over

theirs.

Nellapattu is a classic example of conservation authorities not

understanding the local circumstances and social issues related to

conservation. The villagers had been protecting the birds in Nellapattu

for generations. This heronry had gained fame among bird-watchers

much before it was declared a sanctuary. Due to the villagers’ efforts,

the tank became a heronry and was declared a sanctuary. The sanctuary

was declared without consulting or informing the villagers and this

has strained the relationship between the people and the birds. The

birds, which were once considered as harbingers of good fortune, are

now considered to be a symbol of misfortune by the villagers. In the long run the apathy and

indifference among the villagers caused by this situation is bound to threaten the security of the

birds themselves.

Satya Srinivas, AP NGOs Committee on JFM 3-4-142/6, Barkatpura Hyderabad – 500027 Ph: 040-7564959/ 7563017 E-mail: [email protected] S.Srinivas

This case study has been compiled using information provided in S. Srinivas, ‘Village Bird Buddies 2001’, unpublished report (Hyderabad, APNGOs Committee, 2001).