Indian police retain carrier pigeons as backstop against disasters

Even in today's world of instant messaging, video calls, the internet and mobile telephones, police in India's eastern state of Odisha are preserving a flock of carrier pigeons for use when disasters sever communication links.

Dating from the days of British colonial rule when police stations used the birds to communicate with each other, the state's carrier pigeon service employs more than 100 Belgian Homer pigeons.

"We have kept the pigeons for their heritage value and to preserve them for future generations," said Satish Kumar Gajbhiye, an inspector-general of police in the district of Cuttack.

Police said the pigeons, which can fly at a speed of 55kmph for up to 800km at a stretch, have proved a lifeline at least twice in the last four decades.

They played a vital role after communication lines went down in 1999, when a powerful cyclone hit coastal areas, as well as in 1982, during devastating floods in some parts of the state.

The pigeons usually carry messages written on lightweight onion paper, inserted into a capsule and then 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," said Parshuram Nanda, who looks after the birds.

"Even in the unlikely event that every mode of communication breaks down tomorrow, the pigeons will never fail," he said.