PARADIP: As soon as Parikhit Tarai receives a call or information about a dog or any other animal injured or dying after being hit by a speeding vehicle on the road, he sets out on a noble job. The animal lover from Paradipgarh under Kujang block either takes the injured animal to a vet for treatment or gives the dead animal a dignified burial.
It all began 10 years back when Tarai saw a dog dying after being hit by a heavy vehicle on a highway and its carcass run over by other vehicles. “It was a gory sight. I decided not to leave such carcasses on the roads and bury them by the roadside or an empty patch of land in a dignified manner,” said the 34-year-old. A food delivery agent, he spends a part of his earnings in doing so. He used to sell fish for a living before Covid outbreak. When the pandemic hit, his business came to a grinding halt and Tarai had to take up a food delivery job in Paradip.
In the last 10 years, he has cremated nearly 500 dead animals and ensured medical care to around 200 till date single-handedly. “Animals getting injured or dying on the roads is a common sight these days, particularly dogs and cattle. People do not bother to help the animals or lift the carcass despite vehicles running over it again and again. Sometimes, this also results in accidents as some drivers apply sudden brakes while spotting animal carcasses,” said Tarai who mostly focuses on Cuttack-Paradip State highway and Paradip-Chandikhole NH which are close to his house. While Tarai uses a trolley to shift the animals, he consults veterinarians in Paradip to provide first aid to the injured ones.
Among the various reasons behind animal deaths on roads, he said, two of the most common ones are rash driving and faulty street lights.“Particularly at nights when roads are badly lit, drivers fail to spot animals crossing the roads and hit them,”he added. From around `10,000 or a little more that he earns from delivering food every month, Tarai sets aside `2,000 for treatment of animals and burial of carcasses. Around 15 local organisations and social outfits have felicitated him on several occasions for his work.