Among the casualties of cyclone Titli are hundreds of open-billed storks which were killed and many injured near the Jagannathpur railway station on the city’s outskirts here.
The dead birds were seen scattered all around the railway station and adjoining fields. The injured appear to have taken shelter under the railway wagons and nearby shady places. Some of these also fell prey to predators like dogs.
Inhabitants of nearby Narendrapur and Badakusasthali villages rushed to the spot to help the birds. “But we could do nothing for these birds which had faced the wrath of mother nature,” said Bighneswar Sahu of Badakusasthali. According to locals, the number of open-billed storks and other birds killed at the spot by the cyclone may be more than 5,000.
According to forest officials, earlier, the open-billed storks with nests near Chilika Lake and adjoining Andhra Pradesh used to come over to this region in search of food in the agricultural fields near Jagannathpur, Narendrapur and Badakusasthali.
As the local residents never harmed them, for the last 10 years they had started to nest on big trees near the Jagannathpur station.
“These birds never harmed our crops and for us they were beautiful guests in our paddy fields,” said Anil Kumar Nayak, secretary of Narendrapur village committee. So, the number of open-billed storks staying there had increased in recent years.
But the gushing winds during the landfall of Titli on Thursday morning destroyed their nests. Most of these birds were simply blown away. They died because of collision with buildings, railway wagons and ground.
When contacted, the ranger of Berhampur forest range, Raja Rao, said they were trying to take steps to treat the injured birds.