63 response centres to save birds

About 5 OTs, 73 vets, 1,400 med students have volunteered for the cause during Uttarayan frenzy

Uttarayan is here and so is ready a brigade of bird rescuers to protect feathered species fall ing prey to killer manja. With five major operation theatres (OT), 13 minor OTs and 63 response centers, Forest Department and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation this year have launched their save bird drive with much aggression.

“Our main priority is to save birds.Therefore, we will open more centres to provide immediate medical treatment. About 73 veterinary doctors and more than 1,400 students from medical colleges have volunteered for the cause,“ said Dr T Karuppasamy, DFO, social forestry division,

Ahmedabad.Last year, more than 1,500 birds were rescued in Ahmedabad during the kite festival. But the number could have risen had the unreported cases would have been reported.

“These new five major OTs will have better surgical facilities than the current ones. We have teamed up with fire and other departments to save birds during this festival,“ said Dr RK Sahoo, veterinary doctor with AMC. Students from across the state have been invited for assistance.Though the kite festival is still a week away, the fire department has started receiving calls for bird rescue. Every year, it receives hundreds of calls related to birds injury during Uttarayan which constitutes 50 per cent of the total calls received annually.“After Diwali, kite festival becomes the second busiest day as we get maximum number of calls for bird rescue.At places where NGOs can't rescue birds, people call us for help,“ said Chief Fire Officer Mehernosh Dastur.