Gidhwa-Parsada Pakshi Vihaar’ to be developed as a world-class tourist destination: CM

Central Chronicle News
Raipur, Feb 02: Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said that ‘Gidhwa-Parsada Bird Sanctuary’ will be developed as a world class tourist destination. Every possible step will be taken to establish this bird sanctuary of Chhattisgarh on the international map. Various facilities will be developed for ornithologists, nature lovers and tourists visiting here. Various migratory birds of the world visit and stay in this place, especially between November and March (5 months) month of the year.
Chief Minister Baghel was addressing the ‘Gidhwa-Parsada Birds Vihar Festival’ organized at Nagdha village of Navagarh development block in Bemetara district. Prior to this, Baghel visited Gidhwa-Parsada reservoir and captured panoramic views of birds of various species there. Forest and Transport Minister Mohammad Akbar, Parliamentary Secretary Gurudayal Banjare, MLA Ashish Chhabra, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Rakesh Chaturvedi, IG Vivekananda Sinha, Collector Shivanant Tayal and many public representatives and officials were present on the occasion.
Chief Minister, while making several important announcements regarding the conservation of biodiversity at the Bird Festival, said that Chhattisgarh State Biodiversity Board will formulate a scheme for conservation of areas around Gidhwa and Parsada villages, where migratory birds visit. Also, a bird awareness and training center will be set up in the area, wherein common people would be provided information and training on biodiversity of migratory and local birds of the state. Chhattisgarh State Biodiversity Board will be responsible for the conservation and management of all the wetlands in the state, where these migratory birds visit and are important from the point of view of biodiversity.
It is worth mentioning that this Bird Festival was organized from 31 January to 02 February 2021, with the objective of making Gidhwa-Parsada reservoirs one of the world-class bird tourism sites, which would help in conservation of birds, biodiversity conservation and would generate employment opportunities to the local people through eco-tourism.
Gidhwa-Parsada, Nagdha, Eramshahi area of Bemetara district is full of aquatic and land biodiversity, with ecological and healthy environment. Gidhwa-Parsada site is primarily an area with aqueous moisture and its geographical spread is about 06 km.
Gidhwa-Parsada area has 02 major and 02 medium sized reservoirs, and there are 05 reservoirs are located in the nearby village Eramshahi. Gidhwa-Parsada is a good habitat for birds because of its aquatic food flora and fauna. Studies conducted here found a total of 143 species of birds, including a total of 26 local migratory species, 11 exotic migratory species and 106 local residential species.