The Rajasthan government is working on a project to arrange regular supply of water through a pipeline from a Yamuna canal.

'Water has to be brought from a canal of the Yamuna. But with hardly any water in the river in Delhi itself, how can we get water for the Bharatpur sanctuary?' Singh wondered.

Another problem is lack of greenery. The forest department had cleared large patches of Vilayati Babool (prosopis juliflora) shrubs last month to plant saplings of indigenous species.

'The long delay in the monsoon rains has dried up all the saplings and now you can see only barren wasteland all around,' an official said.

Two years ago Unesco had threatened to de-recognise Keoladeo as a world heritage site as there was no water in the swamps. The threat again looms large.

The birds deprived of feed then had moved to Keitham wetlands near Agra and bird watchers stopped visiting Bharatpur. Officials hope the situation should not be like that this winter.

Bharatpur was declared a national park March 10, 1982, and accepted as a world heritage site in December 1985.

Though open round the year, the winter months are the best season to see the rare foreign birds. The migratory birds start leaving towards the end of February and early March as the temperature begins to rise.

In the winter, visitors to the park can see more than 300 species of birds, including various species of cranes, pelicans, geese, ducks, eagles, hawks, wagtails, warblers, flycatchers, the Coot Snipes, Spanish Sparrow, Red Crested Porhard, Rosy Pelican and flamingo. It is also best known for the rare sightings of the critically endangered Siberian Crane.

The sanctuary is also inhabited by sambar, chital, neelgai and wild boars.

(Brij Khandelwal can be contacted at brij.k@ians.in)