Chirping of thousands of birds are not heard and big flocks in the sky are not seen.

Numerous birds used to come from far away Siberia and Europe to escape chilling winter cold there.

At least 10,000 birds used to come earlier but the number is less than 500 this year, its caretaker Sushil Roy told this correspondent during a visit on Tuesday.

Their resting places have disappeared as most of the around 5,000 age-old fruit-bearing, medicinal and forest trees in the 53.90 acre area have been felled.

The over 20 acre lands around the 33 acre water body were dotted with century-old mango, jack-fruit and banyan trees. But Sushil could show this correspondent only a handful of trees aged between 15 and 20 years. The trees have been felled by the authorities, he said.

The birds used to start arriving from early November and stayed till March-April. Their chirping on trees, dips in the clear water movement in large flocks thrilled hundreds of visitors from home and abroad.

Few tourists come here now as the place has lost its charm, he said.

This correspondent was shocked to find only a small number of guest birds.

Enchanted by its beauty and good road links, the then minister Maidul Islam in President Ziaur Rahman's cabinet in 1978 ordered development of the area into a tourist spot.

Consequently, in 1979, the then Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Nilphamari, Abdul Jabbar Khan, renamed the water body Nilsagor and took steps to improve the infrastructure.

In December 1999, the then State Minister for Land Rashed Mosharraf visited the area. After his visit, a project was undertaken to develop Nilsagar into a bird sanctuary and Tk 80.05 lakh was granted for the purpose.

This is the beginning of the destruction, Sushil said.

The project implementing authorities drastically felled age-old trees without considering the aspect of ecological balance, he said.

Five years ago, noted bird watcher and specialist Dr Zakir Hossain, had cautioned at a meeting not to plant saplings of foreign origin. Guest birds prefer local and familiar trees to alien unfamiliar ones as their shelters. Birds also consume insects growing on local trees, he had said.

But his warning went unheeded, resulting in an ecological imbalance.

During 2001-2002, the then district administration who was the custodian of Nilsagor, turned it almost barren by felling a large number of trees, Sushil lamented.

Felling of trees went on unabated despite newspaper reports.

However, when contacted, a former Union Parishad chairman of the area, Rafiqul Islam, claimed that live trees were not felled. "Only dead trees were removed", he said.

Amid the claims and counter-claims, the area has lost its scenic beauty and bird sanctuaries.

A recent survey also revealed that menace of insects growing in nearby croplands is also one of the reasons for decline in flow of guest birds.

The most shocking incident is that the name of princess Binnabati, daughter King Birat who dug the lake, is now being forgotten after the renaming. King Birat had named the lake Binnadighi after his daughter.

Some local people said they like to call the lake Binnadighi.