BENGALURU: While we only know that the traffic police help citizens manage traffic flow, two assistant sub-inspectors from Mico Layout traffic police station have even been feeding birds and Indie dogs for the past two years.
Fifty-eight-year-old M V Lakshmi Narayana and 55-year-old Mallikarjun have been working for more than 30 years and in 2017, they started feeding birds and animals. According to the two ASIs, there is a huge tree located right near the traffic police station and they would watch three pigeons visit the tree daily. They even have frequent dog visitors for whom the cops thought of buying some food.
Narayana, who started feeding the birds first, said, “Every morning, I would see these birds on trees and at times, they would come down in search of food too. I decided to give them some food every day. One fine day, while I was heading to the police station, I stopped at a store and bought corn and wheat for them. I put the feed and the three birds came down to eat. I brought a few grams and they ate everything. It made me very happy.”
Mallikarjun also joined in with Narayana and started feeding the birds. From a few grams, it went up to 2.5 kg and they spend Rs 50-70 every day. From two-three, the birds now come in a flock of 120-150. “As we started feeding them every day, more pigeons started coming and from two, it reached to 150 birds in no time. It is so beautiful to watch them all come together when we put the grains,” said Mallikarjun.
They even said that every morning at 8am, the birds would come to the tree and wait for them to get their feed. The moment one of them arrives first, they would all flock together and come down. “Though they are many cops at the station, they only come down when they see us. At times when we get late, they don’t go anywhere and wait on the tree,” said Narayana.
Narayana also packs separate lunch for the dogs seen near the police station. “There are a few stray dogs and my wife cooks food for them. This way, even my family is supporting my endeavour. They know that I love animals,” he said.
When the two are on leave, they give the food to constables and ask them to give it to them. They have also placed water bowls for the dogs and birds.