Dating from the days of British colonial rule when police stations used the birds to communicate with each other, the state's carrier pigeon service employs more than 100 Belgian Homer pigeons. The pigeons usually carry messages written on lightweight onion paper, inserted into a capsule and then tied to a leg. As they get older, the pigeons are taken some distance away to be freed and fly back to the shelter by instinct. Carrier pigeons took news of the conquest of Gaul to Rome, brought to England the news of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, and were widely used to carry messages during the two world wars. "Even in the unlikely event that every mode of communication breaks down tomorrow, the pigeons will never fail," he said.

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Persons: Sunil Kataria, Belgian Homer, Satish Kumar Gajbhiye, Parshuram Nanda, Nanda, Gajbhiye, Anil Dhir, Sakshi Dayal, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, Police, Waterloo, Independence, Thomson Locations: Belgian, Cuttack, Odisha, India, Sunil Kataria CUTTACK, Gaul, Rome, England