For the first timers Dhanmandal might appear an
ordinary and small station but a closer look and one
is greeted by hundreds of birds who have chosen this
place for their breeding purpose. Come June every
year and the villagers witness the sky filled with
flocks of these migratory birds. It has been more
than 100 years that the Asian Open Bill Storks,
locally known as Gendalias fly towards Dhanmandal
from different directions in the month of June and
stay here for about seven months.
Dhanmandal market place in Badchana Block of Jajpur
District has been the home for these winged visitors
since more than 100 years. According to the local
people these birds come in flock, each in a pair of
two. They come, breed and fly away with their little
ones said Sanatan Mallick, railway staff posted at
Dhanmandal. One female lays around 6-8 eggs and they
nurture their young ones in the secured and vigilant
eyes of the local people. Once the young ones are
capable to fly themselves the birds leave the place
along with their little ones around the month of
December.
The visit of these birds is an indicator of onset of
monsoon. The local people greet these birds with
great happiness and joy as the presence of these
birds in their area brings good monsoon. Pravakar
Mohapatra recalls that this year as the monsoon was
late; they saw that these birds came to their place
and went away without building their nests. The
birds again flocked the place after month and a half
and this time they came to breed and stared building
their nests. Once the birds came the local people
also witnessed rains in the area. Hence the local
people revere the birds and take good care of these
visitors and protect them from any threats. And
during this time, the local people happily play the
role of custodians of the birds.
This unique co-existence of men and birds in the
remote village of Orissa has now become a
conservation model for many. Noisy hubbubs of
Gendalia flocks disturb the tranquillity of the
place and smell of their droppings makes it
difficult for the local residents as well as the
travelers. The Asian Open Bill Storks feed mainly on
molluscs and fresh water snails etc.
The Gendalias are being actively protected by the
local people who don’t even remember when and how
they really started protecting these birds. 3 groups
viz: Dhanmandal Bazaar committee, Police outpost and
the Railway staff are actively involved in the
conservation of these birds. According to K.K Lakra
a GRP staff, earlier poaching of these birds for
meat was rampant in the area but due to their
initiative now it has been completely stopped. If a
person is found targeting Gendalias, we impose a
fine of Rs 1,000 on him. Nobody can cause harm to
the birds,” said Lakra.
The local people said that due to their conservation
initiative the number of birds flocking the area has
increased in the past years. Earlier the birds used
to nest in only two banyan trees in the area but now
the birds have been found nesting in the adjacent 7
banyan trees which shows that the number of visitors
have considerably increased.
When the people happily shared with the research
team of Vasundhara, their experiences and about
their conservation initiative, they also expressed
their concern that the area has till not caught the
attention of the officials and the researchers and
they believe that more research should be carried
out which would increase the number of birds coming
to the area.
Contact Person:
N. Panda – Station Master
Pravakar Mohapatra
Sanatan Mallick
K.K Lakra – Ph No. - 9861111436
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