Discover Gonda's stunning bird sanctuary and forest retreat
Efforts are underway to attract domestic and international pilgrims visiting Ayodhya to bordering Gonda district by developing the Tikri forest and the Parvati Arga bird sanctuary as eco tourism destinations.
Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union Minister of State for Forest, Environment and Climate Change, and local Lok Sabha MP, said developing this area could serve as an additional attraction for pilgrims visiting Ayodhya.
"The Parvati Arga bird sanctuary, covering an area of 1,084 hectares, is part of the Ramsar project. This sanctuary provides refuge to Siberian birds and is bustling with over three dozen local species, along with migratory birds from Tibet, China, Europe, and Siberia during the winter season," he noted.
Singh said foreign birds begin arriving in the second half of October and stay for nearly four months before returning home. Some of these birds travel over 5,000 km.
Notable migratory species include Eurasian coots, mallards, greylag geese, northern pintails, northern shovelers, cotton teals, red-crested pochards, and gadwalls, he said.
