Save-Kalivikodi move infuriates humans

​Kadapa: The efforts by the wildlife division of the Forest department to conserve Jerdon’s Courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus), listed as an endemic species found in southern parts of the country, triggers a conflict with humans in the Lankamalleswara forest area in Kadapa district.

The Kadapa district administration closed traffic for a stretch of 26 km from Siddhavatam to Badvel on the Kadapa-Bengaluru road from 9pm to 6am following a request from the Wildlife authorities as part of protecting the rare bird.

Prasuna, Divisional Forest Officer, Kadapa, told the Hans India that a number of birds, upon straying from their habitat in the deep forests, were run over by vehicles passing on the road, hence the traffic curbs.

Jerdon’s Courser, as it is called, was first discovered by Thomas C Jerdon from somewhere in the Eastern Ghats in 1848. But it was not seen again until its rediscovery in the mid 1980s.

It has an extremely limited geographical range being known from the Godaveri river valley near Sironcha and Bhadrachalam, and from the Cuddapah and Anantpur areas in the valley of the Pennar River in Andhra Pradesh.
Jerdon’s Courser, known as Kalivikodi in the local parlance, is also called as nocturnal bird as it becomes active at dusk and during the night.

It is currently known from Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary, where it inhabits sparse scrub forest with patches of bare ground. The Lankamalleswara sanctuary extends up to 8km from Siddavatam.

The decision of the administration to restrict traffic movement along the sanctuary draws wild protests from the locals as well as the passengers commuting on the route.

The closure of traffic reportedly spells hardship for people of 26 villages in the Kadapa-Badvel stretch. As a result of curbs, the traffic during the nights has been diverted via Mydukuru from Kadapa, a roundabout for more than 75km.

Consequently, villages close to Siddhavatam and Atlur villages remain cut-off from outside world as the clock strikes 9 `o’ clock at night.

S K Rahamthulla from Mudiabad village of Siddavatam mandal recounts his terrific experience when his daughter suffered a snake bite two years ago.

“I took her in an auto rickshaw to Kadapa in the dead of the night to save my child. It was a trauma all along for our family until we reached the hospital”, Rahamathulla reminisced. Same the case with the plight of women while undergoing labour pains in the area, it is said.

Sidhavatam Deputy Range Officer K Parusuram said the bird was spotted in the dense forests in Atluru mandal nearly three decades ago.

In this backdrop, a group of local activists submitted a representation to AK Parida, then Principal Secretary, Department of Forests, seeking to revoke the traffic curbs.

The administration can protect the wild animals by fencing off the road. It is not fair to suffer humans in the name of protecting a bird”, fumes a local Nandyala Venkatasubbaiah.

The forest area inhabited by the rare bird continues to be a protective zone since the NTR government. During the NTR regime the government has even changed the design of Telugu Ganga canal skirting the Lankamalleswara sanctuary.

The successive Congress government spent crores of rupees for constructing a sanctuary at Atluru during the period of YS Rajasekhar Reddy as the Chief Minister.