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World Sparrow Day observed at Chisopani JHS


SINGTAM, MARCH 21:  The students and teachers observed World Sparrow Day at its school building on March 20. The day marked with an awareness workshop followed by competitions on activities related to preservation and conservation of birds.

Santosh Sharma (pursuing PhD on Avian diversity of Sikkim, Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar) and Krishna Prasad Dahal, (pursuing M.Sc on Forestry, NERIST, Arunachal Pradesh) were the speakers of the day. Mahesh Dahal, Headmaster, Chisopani JHS and his staff were present on the occasion. More than hundred students attended the programme.

The best part of the day was when a few students submitted their catapults to the school and vowed not to shoot the birds in the near future. Altogether 8 catapults were received by the school. Competitions were held for the students that included nest making, treehouse making, placards, and short speeches on the importance of birds. More than 40 students had participated on the competitions. Following were the winners: Sabitra Dahal and Sita Rasaily (placards), Nilu Rai (Bamboo Tree model for birds), Rikit Gurung (nest making), Bindhya Subba (short speech on importance of birds) and Ranjit Darjee, special prize (Bamboo Tree model for birds). The prizes were sponsored by RRC Badhaichha Creation, Singtam.

The day-long program was held in two sessions; the first session had students of class Pre to class iv while the next session featured students of class v, vi, and viii. Mahesh Dahal, Headmaster, Chisopani JHS gave the welcome speech and spoked about the importance of the day. Dahal said it is the need of time to preserve birds before it is too late. Students should always adore the beauty of nature and preserve it, he added. Santosh Sharma and Krishna Dahal, the resource persons showed visual presentations of the importance of birds and interacted with the students. 


Initially, Santosh Sharma highlighted the relationship between vegetation structure and composition, human beings and birds. He emphasized the role of avian species in maintaining essential ecosystem services such as pollination; the importance of the conservation of avian biodiversity in general and the sparrow in particular. He went on to say that birds are the indicators of the health of the ecosystem as they are very sensitive to any kind of disturbance in any habitat.

Krishna Dahal in his talk encouraged the students to observe birds and note down the variation in the characteristics of different species. Dahal further went on to say those small creatures require care as we humans need. Survival of the human race depends upon the environment they live and it gets worse when avians are not found, he added. He also shared information on different avian species being called the state birds in India. Shital Pradhan, teacher Chisopani JHS was the host of the day while CM Chettri gave the vote of thanks.

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