India: KBC winner launches campaign to save house sparrows facing extinction
Sushil Kumar has distributed 5,500 nests at a cost of Rs1.1 million
Patna: Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) winner Sushil Kumar who became a celebrity overnight after he hit the Rs50 million jackpot at the popular game show hosted by Amitabh Bachchan has launched a mega campaign for the conservation of house sparrows. The sparrow was declared the state bird of Bihar in 2013.
As part of the Sparrow Conservation Campaign, Kumar has been visiting the villages and towns urging the people to save the birds from extinction by distributing wooden nests among them. In many cases, Kumar himself fitted these nests in the houses of villagers with the help of nails and hammers.
He has distributed around 5,500 nests so far since the campaign was launched in 2019 in East Champaran district from where he hails. Of them, the sparrows have come to stay in 1,050 nests bringing joy to the villagers.
“Nature has blessed us with many gifts but we are less concerned about preserving them. It’s our moral responsibility to work towards environment conservation,” Kumar told the media recently. He said rapid urbanisation was proving disastrous as the people were now neglecting nature’s gifts and were more concerned only about themselves.
The KBC winner said he was happy to see the people approaching him to seek wooden nests. “This is a very positive development and I am happy to this developing into a mass campaign,” Kumar said.
He has designed two types of nests — one-blocked for a single sparrow couple and nine-blocked for the larger family. Initially, he sets up a one block nest but when the sparrow lays eggs and their family starts increasing or more birds start visiting the nests, then he plants a nine-block nest. He claims to have spent Rs1.1 million on arranging such nests for birds.
Researchers said the population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in India has shown a declining trend in recent decades. In many places like Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal and Karnataka a sharp decline has been observed by ornithologists.
According to a recent study by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the house Sparrow population in Andhra Pradesh has reduced up to 88% and in other states like Kerala, Gujarat and Rajasthan it has dropped to 20%. In coastal areas of India the population has tremendously dropped to 70 to 80%.
“The main cause of decline of this species remains unidentified but it is believed the unavailability of nests because of modernisation, constructions, and deforestation can lead to their decline. The other causes might also include high use of insecticides and competition with other species,” the researchers said. Moreover, the modern houses do not leave any space for the species to build their nests.
Kumar, who was too poor to own a television set, became a celebrity overnight after he won Rs50 million on the TV game show “Kaun Banega Crorepati” (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire). Before he won the jackpot, Kumar was employed as a computer operator in a government office in Bihar with a monthly salary of Rs6,000.