A "Chirpy" Movement

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Thane Plus . Friday, October 29, 2010 . Page VI

Report By : Vaidehi Venkatraman

The Erection Of Several Buildings Has Led To The Decline Of The Sparrow Specie. An NGO Has Started 'My Sparrow Home' To Help The Declining Species To Find An Abode

The music of chirping of sparrows was a wake up call for many Thaneites once upon a time. Amidst the hussle and bussle of development and urbanisation, many buildings have come up which have led to the decline in the population of sparrows. Their nests have been destroyed for new urban projects to come up.

Plant and Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) Mumbai, a non governmental organisation (NGO) has initiated a concept called 'My Sparrow Home' wherein the youths in the NGO have designed wooden nests for sparrows and are encouraging people to join the movement so that the chirping of sparrows are heard again in the city. 

Out of approximately 40 calls made by people to own one sparrow home, about 20 calls have been by people from Thane."The sparrow population has declined to a great extent and we as a society need to help increase it. The structures of new buildings are such that sparrows cannot build their nests in them. 

The holes provided in these buildings are so big that the tiny sparrow finds it difficult to reside in it after building its nest. Big birds like pigeons eat up these small birds and destroy their nests in order to build their own nests," said Sunish Subramanian, founder and secretary of PAWS-Mumbai. 

He added that we are encouraging people to come forward and participate in this movement of owning one sparrow home at least. "They can contribute their bit to an increase in the sparrow population," he said.Thaneites have been making calls to buy sparrow homes and place them in their societies, balconies or backyards. 

Stella Kuntu, a senior citizen and a tuition teacher from Brahmand is expecting her sparrow home sometime next week. She said, "I love animals and birds. It is a good thing that sparrow homes can help increase the population of this specie. When I shifted to Brahmand, there were many sparrows. 

Today, the situation has completely changed and I hardly see any sparrows around. I have a small terrace where I am planning to keep my sparrow home." She added that I need not take the responsibility of taking care of them because a sparrow home serves all their needs. 

Subramaniam said, "All they need is a nest and they can take care of themselves. We need not even treat them like our pets. For those who do not like keeping pets at home or taking up the responsibility of maintaining a pet need not worry. The sparrow home is an artificial nest which will serve as their home. These nests are small enough only for sparrows to enter and dwell."

He added that they do not make the nests by cutting trees. They simply utilize used wooden planks to design artificial nests for the sparrows. "We are also handing out appreciation certificates for people coming forward to own a sparrow home. 

We are providing these nests for free to corporation gardens, schools or colleges. However, we charge a very reasonable amount to housing societies or individual residents of the city."The NGO has also started 'My Sparrow Home' communities on social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook and Orkut to spread awareness regarding the same.For more information or to own a sparrow home email mysparrowhome@gmail.com

All they need is a nest and they can take care of themselves. The sparrow home is an artificial nest which will serve as their home

 — Sunish Subramaniam founder & secretary of PAWS-Mumbai


Web Link : 
http://mumbaimirror.com/article/35/201010292010102911412559052a508ec/A-%E2%80%98chirpy%E2%80%99-movement.html