Dinajpur railway station is busy with people 24 hours a day. But the crowds are not just there to catch trains; many come mainly to see the birds. Wherever you look in the station, sparrows are chirping in every tree, and countless people gather each day to watch them chirp and fly about.

On entering the station you see trees of many kinds, including dauwa, bakul, mango and custard apple. As afternoon comes, sparrows start arriving in flocks and the station area fills with their chatter.

Rail passengers and townspeople crowd in every day to see the birds. No one is allowed to hunt them or throw stones at them; if anyone tries, the station's security staff, shopkeepers, porters and hawkers stop them. So the trees stay full of sparrows.

Aminul Islam, owner of Bandhu Patrika Agency at the rail gate, Md Raju, former general secretary of the newspaper hawkers' association, and Md Rubel Islam, its current joint secretary, said sparrows have been coming to the station's trees for several years. They arrive in the afternoon and leave at dawn in search of food.

The GRP police, railway officials and staff, shopkeepers and other locals have come forward to protect the birds. Md Golzar Hossain, officer-in-charge of the GRP police station, said they keep watch so that no one can harm the birds. The birdsong in the afternoon touches people's hearts, he said, and he asked locals and visitors alike to cooperate.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.