SUPAUL: Authorities in Bihar’s Supaul have started a drive to protect migratory birds and appealed to the people to help them in doing so.

“We have intensified patrolling at the sites where migratory birds visit… forest officials have been directed to keep a vigil on water bodies so that migratory birds are not trapped by poachers,” said divisional forest officer Sunil Kumar Sharan. He added they have taken a serious view on poaching and trapping of migratory birds.

Arvind Mishra, a birder, said poachers are active and there is a need for a sustained drive against them.

Sharan denied reports from Khagaria and Supaul saying migratory birds were being sold.

Two years back, farmers of Katihar’s Amdabad and Manihari blocks offered about 140 acres of land to develop the Gogabeel Lake into a reserve for birds.

Ian Baber, the Asia programme manager at Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, visited the lake in 2013 and called for developing it into an eco-tourist spot. He said he was impressed with the number of migratory birds there.