From past to present: Odisha’s police pigeon service featured at Nyaya Sanhita Exhibition

Bhubaneswar: The Nyaya Sanhita Exhibition today hosted a captivating journey into the annals of communication history by showcasing the Odisha Police Pigeon Service, the only functional service of its kind remaining in the world. 

In a live demonstration of this heritage, two groups of nine pigeons each were dispatched from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack today, carrying messages in small capsules attached to their feet to replicate the historic “pigeon post.” 

Visitors were introduced to the biological wonder of the Belgian Homer pigeons, whose specialised anatomy—including larger beaks, red eyes, and thick napes—houses tiny iron structures that act as a natural compass. This internal GPS allows the birds to analyse the Earth’s magnetic field and navigate over vast distances, a feat of nature that has fascinated scientists and ornithologists for centuries. Whether returning to their lofts in Odisha or migrating from as far as Siberia to the islands of Chilka Lake, these birds display a navigational precision that often rivals modern technology.

The exhibition highlighted that the art of training these birds is a “flight back in time,” originating with the ancient Persians and Greeks before being perfected in India during the Mughal era. Emperor Shah Jahan, one of history’s greatest breeders, famously used pigeons to carry secret military instructions and private missives. This legacy of reliability carried into the 20th century, where the Odisha Police inherited 200 birds from the American Army in 1946. 

What began as an experimental communication link for the mountainous Koraput district soon expanded into a sophisticated network of over 700 pigeons. These birds became the lifeline of the state, particularly during the 1982 Banki floods and the 1999 Super Cyclone, when traditional radio and telephone networks collapsed, leaving the “pigeon post” as the only remaining connection to the outside world.

One of the most popular anecdotes shared at the pavilion today involved India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In April 1948, a pigeon was dispatched from Sambalpur to Cuttack carrying a handwritten note from Nehru regarding arrangements for a public meeting. While the Prime Minister’s journey took seven hours, the winged messenger delivered the missive in just five, demonstrating the incredible speed of these birds, which can fly at 55 kms per hour. The original note, a prized piece of history, remains a testament to the service’s efficiency. 

Attendees learned that the service was traditionally categorised into three types: Static (one-way), Boomerang (two-way), and Mobile (used by armed police battalions on the move), with birds being trained from the tender age of six weeks.

Though the advent of emails and high-speed networking nearly led to the winding up of the service a few years ago, the Odisha government chose to preserve this “pleasant anachronism” for its cultural and ceremonial value. 

Today, the service is maintained through two primary lofts at Cuttack and the Police Training College in Angul. By showcasing these birds and performing today’s live flight at the Nyaya Sanhita Exhibition, the Odisha Police not only honored a 70-year-old tradition but also reminded the public of a time when the safety of a community often rested on the wings of a single, courageous bird. The display stands as a tribute to the 32 pigeons awarded medals for valour in the World War II and the thousands more that have served the people of Odisha through storms and disasters alike.