NEWS AND COMMENT- NAVI SANKALI VILLAGE, GUJARAT, INDIA: A farmer, Bhagvanji Rupapara, has spent almost all his savings in constructing an elaborate, 40-foot-high dove nest tower for 2,500 birds at a cost of nearly £20,000 over the period of one year. He has become a celebrity as a result. He’s unhappy about that because it means that the birds are disturbed by the media attention. There are too many cameras. He wants his entire construction to be occupied by doves and some peace and quiet.
He was motivated to build this elaborate construction from clay pots because he used to sit in the fields where he grows wheat and cotton watching the doves build their nest inside wells on his land. However, every year the nests were washed away by torrential rains which last for several months.
He wondered how he could do something for them. He said that they seem to be so agitated and he felt motivated to help. He tried various designs which didn’t work until he settled on the idea of using clay pots that were raised off the ground to protect the doves from predators such as cats and dogs and I presume from torrential rain. As you can see, the clay pots are supported by a steel frame. He says that the design ensures that the pots are waterproof.
The ‘dove hotel’ is not yet fully occupied but, as mentioned, he expects it to be once the camera crews disappear and the reporters leave him alone.
“I hope the media interest will fade away soon so that there is peace”.
What can we say? Be impressed. Admire. He must be an animal lover. But he has expressed his love in a year’s hard work and heavy financial cost. You can’t do more.
