not too long ago eastambaram was a vacant spot in the sub urb in the last 10 years however it has become a real estate hot spot to such an extent that the city now extends seamlessly from velachery through pallikaranai all the way to tambaram yet even as the city grew the forest department has beefed up protection of nanmangalam a reserved forest in east tambaramnanmangalam is home to several species of birds including the rare great indian horned owl not just peacocks winter migrants such as the bluetailed bee eater and osprey have also made this 275 hectare area their second homethere were at least half a dozen quarry sites in the wooded land the constant truck movement noise and dust pollution had forced many resident birds small mammals and other reptiles to look for alternative spaceprincipal chief conservator of forests and head of the forest department n krishnakumar said the area was provided adequate protection by appointing five antipoaching watchers they come in shifts to patrol the forests spread over 8 sq km earlier people had easy access and they used s and they used to spoil the place by lit tering or by dumping liq uor bottles uor bottlesnow the entry has been restricted as the entire area has been covered with a perimeter wall this has helped more birds and other wildlife to take shelter in this green lung he saidnanmangalam forest is unique as this is the only home to the greathorned indian owl which has been breeding here successfully in the last three decades no other forest near the city has attracted the attention of these beautiful nocturnal birds krishnakumar saidnature and wildlife consultant preston ahimaz said when he came to this forest in the 1990s he saw men cleaning trucks using stagnant water in abandoned quarries paramilitary forces used to undergo jungle warfare training here the common babbler a rare bird that had been sighted here disappeared from nanmangalamnature trust founder k v r k thirunaranan who is monitoring the breeding pairs of the great indian horned owl at nanmangalam says there has been a resurgence in the population of this bird sometime ago peacocks started breeding here and now their population is on the rise this indicated that the environ is well protected says heoriginally the area was un the control of kancheepuram fo est division about six month ago when the chennai forest division was started nanmangalam was brought under chennai divisions control says krishnakumar it is not only the bird population that is thriving but also small mammals such as the monitor lizard the indian jackal and the blacknapped haretheir population is also on the rise recently an antipoaching watcher reported sighting a huge monitor lizardnot just animals nanmangalam forest has been doing its bit for hu mans too by acting as a groundwater recharging unit the residents living around this wooded area say the water level in the vicinity of nanmangalam forest doesnt go down even during the