Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod

Kasargod, Sep 7: Work on four-laning of the National Highway from Talapady to Cherkala is progressing well. However, a portion of the work on the highway near Cherkala has been stopped to protect the bird nests for the past 25 days by the contractors society.

At the Cherkala junction of the state-national highway lies a huge tree where thousands of nests have been built by birds such as ducks and crows. The contractors society along with forest department officials and bird experts have discussed about protecting these nests and stopped work on the widening of the highway.

When the electricity board workers climbed up this tree to cut off a 12-metre branch to replace the wires, these nests built by the birds caught their attention.

Contractors Society GM Balasubramanyam, deputy conservator of social forest department P Dhanesh Kumar and bird watcher Raju Kidoor visited the spot and gathered information about the matter.

It is the breeding season for sea crows and ducks from May to October and if nests are vacated during the period, there is a danger of trees dying. The officials had decided to wait for 25 days before the young ones flew off on their own before commencing work on the highway again.

In the past, road works had been stopped for a month near Manjeshwara when a snake had laid an egg and it was protecting the same.