Rajasthan has decided to close the entry of visitors to the Keoladeo national park in the months of May and June to minimise the threat of forest fires, according to Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).

'The government has decided to close the sanctuary in these two months as during this period there have been instances of forest fires,' Sunayan Sharma, a senior forest official of Keoladeo national park, told IANS.

The government also plans to spend Rs.1 million on building watchtowers in the bird sanctuary. One of the watchtowers has already been erected and funds have been sought for one more, sources in the forest department said.

'The tall watchtowers, which would give a complete view of the park, would also have provisions for overhead water tanks, fire fighting equipment and trained staff to deal with any eventuality in case of fire,' sources added.

There have been instances of fires in the bird sanctuary that resulted in heavy losses to forest wealth.

Also known as the Ghana bird sanctuary, it has been hit hard by the lack of water due to poor monsoon rains. Several water bodies have turned into dry land. The entire area had been receiving scanty rainfall for the last couple of years but things turned miserable last year.

Bereft of birds, the place today wears a deserted look.

The sanctuary, created by the Maharaja of Bharatpur, was spread over 28.73 sq km of lake and wetland in the 19th century. Over 300 species of birds are usually found here. However, with water becoming scarce, the chances of seeing exotic birds there are becoming bleak day by day.

A task force constituted by the Rajasthan government in 2006 had recommended two proposals to provide water to the park, one from the Goverdhan drain and another from the Chicksana canal.

'The Chicksana canal work, which would bring water to the park from nearby catchment areas during monsoon, has been completed while the project report on the Goverdhan drain is being made,' a source said.

The state government had decided to lay a 16-km pipeline from the Goverdhan drain to supply 350 million cubic feet (MCFT) of water to the Ghana sanctuary. The project involves a total cost of Rs.600 million.