Forest officers agree the problem is severe. “Monsoon rain was highly deficient last year. Therefore water has dried up in ChhayaRann. The problem is also severe because we are going through the extreme dry season. For lack of water there, flamingos have migrated in the inter-tidal zone of Karli,” says assistant conservator of forests, Dipak Pandya. Porbandar receives average 27 inches of rain every year. But in 2015, it received only half of that. ChhayaRann is fed by runoff water from Porbandar and sewerage of the town. But Porbandar and adjoining Chhaya are also reeling under a drinking water crisis. “Lesser flamingos started roosting here since 1964. But the Rann has not dried up to this extent in decades,” says Rughani. Local bird-watchers say Saurashtra Chemical dumped its bauxite waste in ChhayaRann a few decades ago. The salt-content in the waste led to growth of algae in the wetland and, in turn, started attracting lesser flamingos which feed on shrimps and other crustaceans etc. DhavalVaragiya, president of Mokarsagar Wetland Conservation Committee, says the birds have flocked elsewhere. “ChhayaRann is not a protected wetland and therefore conservation regime is not that rigorous. But lesser flamingos depend on a series of wetlands. These birds, we believe are local migratory birds. Thousands have shifted to salt-pans near Javar village, Kurli area etc,” says Varagiya.