Alarmed at the diminishing number of birds that visit Sultanpur Lake, the forest department has suggested an ambitious plan to the district administration to turn the situation around.

Bird flu may not have been the cause behind the deaths of 47 birds at Sultanpur sanctuary in Gurgaon recently. Officials now suspect something more lethal.

The district administration has woken up to the need of developing an eco-friendly zone around biologically sensitive areas as per the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) guidelines.

The administration has now directed the officials concerned to prepare a zonal masterplan for developing such a zone in the five-km radius of the Sultanpur National Bird Sanctuary.

A monitoring committee,

Gurgaon: The bird reserve in Sultanpur National Park near Gurgaon played host to more than 40,000 migratory birds this year. According to officials, the rise in the bird population was a marked improvement from last year

New Delhi: Hundreds of fish may be dying of thirst at Sultanpur Lake in the bird sanctuary but the Haryana environment and forest department won

The onset of winters might have been delayed this year, but the winged visitors have not disappointed, flocking to the Sultanpur Lake by the hundreds and making it a perfect destination for a peaceful weekend getaway.

The Whistler's Warbler (Seicercus whistleri), a threatened migratory bird naturally found in the Himalayan ranges, has been observed in Sultanpur bird sanctuary in Gurgaon after some 25 years. Officials at the sanctuary claim, however, that eminent Indian ornithologist Dr Salim Ali could not observe the 9.5 cm to 12 cm long, yellow bird despite camping for long at the sanctuary.

Chandigarh: After the Aravali forest reserves, the Union minister of environment has declared the Sultanpur wildlife sanctuary, a destination for eco-tourists in NCR, an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ). Issuing a notification to this effect on Thursday, the ministry invited objections, if any, from locals and directed the state government to ensure steps for its strict implementation.

Gurgaon: After reports of bird flu from Assam and West Bengal, a team of veterinary doctors has started collecting blood samples to test for the disease in migratory birds at the Sultanpur Lake and Bhindawas in Haryana.

WILDLIFE officials fear that migratory birds will not come to the Sultanpur National Park, Haryana, because the lake that supports the park is rapidly drying up and even the artificial sources of