Detentions shed light on New Town fires People setting fires on grasslands, when questioned offered wide range of reasons driving out snakes, waste burning and “starting fires just to see the grasslands go up in flames”
Fires on New Town’s grasslands are being lit for reasons ranging from burning waste to scaring away snakes, an official of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority said.
Residents’ resistance groups, the NKDA and police have caught several people setting fires on grasslands. All the men were questioned and a wide range of reasons driving out snakes, making a safe passage for cattle to graze, waste burning and “starting fires just to see the grasslands go up in flames” have emerged.
cheels), raptors are shy. So where does one find them?
Some are found in open spaces, circling the sky while scanning the fields for prey. Close to Dhaka, I have seen them over the grasslands of Purbachol. The Common Kestrel, a small falcon, can be easily seen there in winter, a reddish bird perched atop electric poles. Larger raptors circle high overhead. While most are
cheels, I have seen Booted and Steppe Eagles, Japanese Buzzards and Oriental Honey-Buzzards among them, discernible from photographs or with binoculars. The Black-winged Kite breeds in Purbachol. A magnificent black-and-white hunter, it sometimes hovers at one spot while looking for prey.