A cage has been created at Eco Park to highlight and give a first-hand feel of how it feels like being caged. Birds, butterflies and local fauna should be free and living in a natural habitat rather than being caged and made to live the life of a pet.

The focus is on integrating bio-diversity principles in the development paradigm. Amidst the din and bustle of the city, the New Town park provides roosting, nesting and foraging habitats for more than 150 birds, which have been documented.

Out of this, in just three months in the winter season, various rare migratory species like Wryneck, Black Redstart and Plaintive Cuckoo have been spotted at the park and Siberian Stone Chat has been spotted in the immediate vicinity.

Sen steps inside the cage

Sen releases butterflies after the inauguration

Eco Park with its varied landscapes provides spaces for such varied biodiversity and is upholding the mantra of “Let live to live”.

To promote biodiversity, a workshop on the local floral species and the birds at Eco Park was organised by the Nature Environment & Wildlife Society (NEWS) last week. The event was attended by Hidco chairman Debashis Sen, senior officials of New Town Kolkata Development Authority, NEWS secretary Biswajit Roy Chowdhury and NEWS joint secretary Ajanta Dey. Students from Calcutta University’s environmental science department participated in the workshop.

The event started with the inauguration of the cage, which is “a promotional tool towards non-caging of wild birds”, Sen at Pakhi Bitan. It was followed by releasing of caged birds and butterflies to raise awareness against caging of wild birds.