Chilika Development Authority (CDA) authorities have decided to extend the Balugaon channel, which serves as a vital route for breeding and migration of fish. The CDA will dredge a 5km extension from the existing channel that is 3.3km in length. The CDA officials said a pre-survey for excavation of the extended portion of the channel and de-silation of the existing portion of the channel had already been completed. “The Balugaon channel connects to the main lake with the inlet to the Bay of Bengal facilitating exchange of water and migration of dolphins as well as improvement of navigation facility,” said additional chief executive of CDA Sasmita Lenka. The authorities will also take up the de-siltaion work of the current channel which experiences deposition of silt from the Daya, Bharvagi and Luna rivers. “The fishermen have been using fishing nets across the channel and this has adversely affected the migration of species and navigation,” said a CDA official. Two dredgers will be deployed for the purpose and the entire work of dredging and maintenance would be completed in 18 months. As many 52 rivers empty into Chilika and also bring slit in the process. “We had conducted a massive eviction drive of prawn gheris and consequently, the fish catch of the lake has increased by 20 per cent in the last six months. We hope the fish catch of the lake will increase further after the dredging of the channel,” said Lenka. The CDA removed encroachment in the form of net gheris from 152sqkm in the lake area. Researchers have recorded 17 new fish species at the Chilika lagoon between 2011 and 2017. The research, which was financially supported by World Bank, was conducted by the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, had confirmed the presence of 335 species of fish, including 129 commercially important ones.