The Forest department has stepped up patrolling around the Chilika lake to keep a watch on poachers of birds, which have been thronging the heritage water body during winter.
As many as 17 camps with 90 personnel have been set up along the 16-km coastline while two boats and vehicles have been pressed into service for patrolling in the Mangalajodi, Sorana and Nalabana areas of the lake, which play host to the migratory birds. Around a lakh of winged guests has arrived at the Chilika for their winter sojourn this year.
The birds, mostly from beyond the Himalayas in the Northern Eurasia, Caspian region, Siberia, Kazakh, lake Baikal and remote areas of Russia and neighbouring countries, come to the Chilika every winter and start their homeward journey before the onset of summer.