“Sparrow Drawing Competition” for Mumbaikar's : PAWS-Mumbai in associated with AFTERNOON VOICE views & vision of city
March 15, 2011
PRESS COVERAGE
Afternoon Voice I March 15, 2011 I Front Page
SPARROWS SHOULD NOT BE HISTORY
Prakash Subramanian
Those were days when the chirping of house sparrows used to wake you up in the morning and the welcome sight of those little birds hopping in to the house through open windows. It is been noticed that a rapid decline in house sparrows have taken place in our country. In a bid to raiseawareness and to throw light on the problems faced by the House Sparrow in its daily fight for survival, PAWS, a Mumbai based NGO in association with AFTERNOON VOICE is organising a “Sparrow Drawing Competition” to mark the “World Sparrow Day – India”.Sunish Kunju, Founder of PAWS said, “We want more and more children to be aware of this decline in the number of sparrows. Hence, we are conducting two types of competition one writing poems on sparrow while the other drawing.” Interested students can participate in this competition by sending their painting/drawing related to Sparrows. Schools can also send their student’s creating consolidated, the drawing should be made on A3 size white drawing paper.
“From next year onwards, we would be conducting a week long programme from 6 Feb-12 Feb to bring more awareness among the people. We would also try to bring as many national and international NGO’s together for this purpose,” he added.
Many reasons are attributed for their apparent “disappearance”: The introduction of unleaded petrol is one, as the combustion of which produces compounds methyl nitrite, which is highly toxic for small insects that forms a part of a chick's diet.
Old houses had eaves and tiles that were comfortable perches to build nests on. External wirings and framed pictures too were “habitats”. But sleek modern concrete structures no longer have these and so “feathered neighbours” lost their habitats.
Mushrooming supermarket culture in urban areas, replaced the old fashioned grain shops which offered their spills as feeds. Urbanisation has done away with home gardens, which had worms and insects for the young sparrows. Besides, extensive uses of pesticides have proved lethal for their survival. The most recent reason for their disappearance is the mobile phone towers, the waves from the tower, it is said, are capable of destroying the life in the eggs.
“I love nature and birds, and Sparrows are my favorite birds! I absolutely adore them!
Somehow, my mind is finding it hard to accept that today their numbers are declining and we need to set aside a ‘day’ to remind us of their existence and help conserve them. We seem to be so consumed by the lifestyle of this age that we are ignorant of our surroundings. It is almost as if we wake up, and realise that we are on the verge of losing our eco wealth, that we then, take notice and try to make amendments. Couldn’t we have raised our voices when our trees were cut down to widen the roads, or skyscrapers built in the name of ‘development’?” says Meenakshi Kotian, a TYB.Com student.
PAWS have registered their name in the Limca Book of World Records for having most of its workers teenagers.
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Please do write your name, standard / division, school name and your contact detail behind the drawing. All the participants who send their creation will receive a certificate and best 3 (First, Second & Third) will be receiving a trophy. The last date of submitting your entry is 20th March, 2011 and result of best 3 will be published on the 22 March 2011 issue of Afternoon Voice or you can also see the update in www.worldsparrowhomeindia.blogspot.com.
You can drop your entry at Afternoon Voice Office, 425, 4th Floor, Gundecha Industrial Complex Premises Co-Op. Society Ltd., Near Big Bazar, Akurli Road, Kandivali (East), Mumbai – 400 101 or at Script Design Shoppe, B 12, Station Plaza, Station Road, Bhandup (West), Mumbai – 400 078., in an envelope marked “Sparrow Drawing Competition”.
PRESS COVERAGE
Mumbai Manoos
March 15, 2011
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