The new picnic spot on the bank of the Kulik (below) and open-bill storks in the sanctuary. Pictures by Nantu Dey

Raiganj, Nov. 23: The picnickers have got a quaint spot by the riverside and the birds a peaceful environment.

“That had been the sole purpose of shifting the picnic spot away from the Kulik bird sanctuary. We wanted to spare the avians the bustle of the picnickers. Often the mikes blare all through the day and the din goes on for the entire tourist season, which is usually winter,” said Ashis Sen, the divisional forest officer of Raiganj.

The new picnic spot is half a kilometre from the sanctuary and on the banks of the Kulik river. Earlier, people used to picnic across the bird sanctuary, on the other side of NH34. “The noise used to reach the birds and for sometime they stopped nesting here,” said Sen. “The picnickers come not only from across the district but also from Malda, South Dinajpur and even Murshidabad. So you can imagine the number.”

The forest department has planted trees along the national highway and put up barbed wire fencing to keep away picnickers. “We had banned picnics across the sanctuary two years ago,” said Sen.

Having selected a new spot, the forest department is now out to develop it. “There is no source of drinking water or toilet facilities. We will set them up soon,” Sen said. The new spot, too, shares the boundary with the sanctuary but not many birds roost on the trees located on that side. The new spot has the sanctuary wall on one side and the village on the other. “In that way, the picnickers are forced to stay in an enclosed space.”

The forest officer said there was a plan to set up a children’s park too. “We have a lot of land in that part and there are trees to provide shade. The park would be located only 300-400m along the embankment of the river,” the divisional forest officer said.

However, the visitors will not be deprived of a view of the birds altogether. The Kulik sanctuary and the area around it are home to open-bill storks, cormorants and herons. A tower would be built for bird watchers at the entrance to the sanctuary. The paths inside the sanctuary are also being repaired. “We hope to evoke people’s interest in the birds,” Sen said.

Somsubhra Sinha, a schoolteacher from Malda, said he and his family were regular visitors to Kulik for the past eight to nine years. “But this year, we did not go because of the drinking water crisis. Last time, we had to walk a kilometre to the tourist lodge to get water. But if the forest department is developing the area seriously, we might change our plans,” he said.

The inspector-in-charge of Raiganj police station, Pradip Chakrabarty, said if the visitors were confined to a specific zone, it would make their job easier.

“Earlier the picnickers used to be in scattered groups along the highway and we had a tough time keeping an eye on them,” he said.