Even in right now’s world of prompt messaging, video calls, the web and cellular telephones, police in India’s japanese state of Odisha are preserving a flock of service pigeons to be used when disasters sever communication hyperlinks.

Dating from the times of British colonial rule when police stations used the birds to speak with one another, the state’s service pigeon service employs greater than 100 Belgian Homer pigeons. “We have kept the pigeons for their heritage value and to preserve them for future generations,” mentioned Satish Kumar Gajbhiye, an inspector-general of police within the district of Cuttack.

Police mentioned the pigeons, which might fly at a pace of 55 kph (34 mph), for as much as 500 miles (800 km) at a stretch, have proved a lifeline not less than twice within the final 4 a long time. They performed a significant position after communication traces went down

in 1999, when a strong cyclone hit coastal areas, in addition to in 1982, throughout devastating floods in some components of the state. The pigeons often carry messages written on light-weight onion paper, inserted right into a capsule after which tied to a leg.

“We start training the birds at five to six weeks old, when they are placed in a crate and put in their shelter,” mentioned Parshuram Nanda, who takes care of the birds. As they become old, the pigeons are taken far away to be freed and fly again to the shelter by intuition.

“The distance is increased gradually, and within 10 days, they are able to return from about 30 km (19 miles),” Nanda mentioned. Carrier pigeons took information of the conquest of Gaul to Rome, dropped at England the information of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, and had been broadly used to hold messages throughout the two world wars.

But the arrival of recent communications means the Indian pigeons right now determine principally in ceremonial roles throughout authorities features for nationwide holidays comparable to Independence Day and Republic Day, Gajbhiye mentioned. Studies present the pigeons can detect magnetic fields and zoom in on their vacation spot from 1000’s of miles away, mentioned historian Anil Dhir, who works with the police.

“Even in the unlikely event that every mode of communication breaks down tomorrow, the pigeons will never fail,” he mentioned. (Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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