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Madhupur in Bihar, a home fast losing for Peacock

     Motihari (Bihar): Peacock, the national bird of India, with its splendid looks and majestic walk has been the source of inspiration for many poets and artists, but at the same time it has become a major reason for the disastrous end of these feathered glories. Madhupur, a small village in Bihar has been striving hard to preserve the peacock or the peafowl in its bionetwork by converting their village into a forest area. It boasts of being home to over 200 peacocks. The village got its first pair of peacock way back in 1960 when a resident of the village bought a pair from a nearby fair. After approximately 48 years the village owns more than 200 birds. The villagers have made arrangements for the safety of these peacocks. Apart from providing them food, the villagers are extremely tolerant when the birds ruin their crops regularly. The villagers are proud of these birds and take pride in taking care of them, irrespective of the problems created due to the presence of these birds hovering all around the place. The only demand that these villagers have from the Government is to convert their village into a forest area and undertake the task of conservation of the flora and fauna in the vicinity. The District Forest Officer (DFO) had made a plan and forwarded the same to the government but to no avail. This has distressed the people, who are still hopeful that the government would help them out.

     "In order to convert our village into a forest area we met the DFO. He had made a plan and had forwarded the same to the government. But no step has been taken by the government," said a villager. "A meeting with the Chief Minister was also fixed, but he didn't come nor did he do anything because of which the villagers are highly disappointed," said Bharat Bhushan Singh, the village head. In the past two decades the number of the birds is decreasing and has been a major cause of worry for the conservationists. The increasing demand and craze for feathers for both religious and commercial purposes has been a major cause for the decreasing number of the birds. The increasing use of pesticides is another cause for their deaths.
-Sep 11,  2008