Kelambakkam salt pans, birds’ new home

The area is filled with shore birds and a few more from other countries. 

Bird watchers say that they have documented 45 to 50 species and expect the number of visitors to go up during north-east monsoon. 

Several salt pans dot the entire stretch from Kelambakkam to Kovalam on Old Mahabalipuram Road. Interestingly, in recent times, more number of birds have started thronging Chennai water bodies and Kelambakkam is now becoming the preferred destination of the winged visitors.

Some of the factors attributed to the sudden spurt of birds in these salt pans are that human movement is limited, they are always filled with shallow water and above all because of the approaching north east monsoon. 

“Whimbrel, Asian grey plover, Pacific golden plover, little stints, common red and green shanks and marsh sandpiper, which are found in sizeable number, feed on worms and insects in these salt pans.” says KVRK Thirunaranan, founder, The Nature Trust. 

“Though the location does not come under forest range, officials from Tirupporur forest range keep an eye on these salt pans,” he added. 

Another activist, G Vijayakumar, secretary, Madras Naturalists’ Society (MNS) cautioned that owing to urbanisation close to the backwater areas, there was a possibility of sewage water polluting these salt pans and it might pose a threat to the birds. 

When DTNext contacted, Kancheepuram District Forest Officer (DFO), T Ritto Cyriac said that they also keep a watch on areas, which are frequented by animals and birds, even if they fell outside their limits. “We get alerts from village forest committee members on poaching. In such places, we have caught some poachers and had fined them,” he said.