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A Mascot for the Ecological Citizen
The citizen concern around a black-necked stork’s rescue in the Basai wetland signals hope for urban biodiversity.
In the middle of a heatwave in June, buffeted by dust storms, an unlikely celebrity had emerged: a black-necked stork that had its beak snapped shut by a piece of garbage.
The story of the stork’s fate is a fascinating mix of citizen consciousness and ownership of the last dregs of urban ecology. Gurugram is a sprawling area next to Delhi, known for the extremes in its environmental existence; the city faces a shortage of groundwater, and problems of dust, noise, and air pollution. It is no surprise, though, that even such a bleak area has remnant pockets of urban biodiversity, as many such ecologies had existed before human habitation in the region. Close to the frenetic constructions in Gurugram is the Basai wetland.
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