In a nostalgic tribute to a 70-year-old tradition, the Odisha Police recently revived its legendary Pigeon Service at the ‘Nyay Samhita Exhibition’ in Bhubaneswar. Eighteen Belgian Homer pigeons were released in two batches, successfully carrying messages in tiny capsules from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack—just as they did decades ago.
Established in 1946 with birds from the US Army, this unique service remains the world’s only functional police pigeon post. These avian messengers possess a natural "biological compass" in their beaks, allowing them to navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field at speeds of 55 km/h.
History proves their worth: in 1948, a pigeon outpaced Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s car by two hours on a run to Cuttack. More crucially, these birds were the sole lifelines during the 1982 floods and the 1999 Super Cyclone when modern technology failed.
Today, maintained at training centers in Cuttack and Angul, this service stands as a living memorial to the brave feathered messengers of World War II and Odisha’s past disasters.