Gujarat village shuns kites to let painted storks soar safely | India News – Times of India


VADODARA: For 16-year-old Mayur Chauhan, Uttarayan is more than just a celebration – it is a tradition inalienable with kite flying. He and his friends used to begin preparations at least 10 days before Jan 14, and by the festival’s peak, the skies above his native village Luna, 20 km from Vadodara, would be a battlefield of soaring kites and playful rivalries.
Four years ago, however, everything changed when painted storks, which frequented the village in winters, found Luna as their haven. Now, kites no longer clash in the skies here, and jubilant screams of ‘kaipo che’ (I’ve cut your kite) have fallen silent. Not just Mayur and his friends, but the majority of villagers have grounded their kites lest the sharp strings slice the delicate necks of painted storks.
For Luna, the painted storks are not just feathered visitors – they are family whom the residents fiercely protect. This village with a 2,000-strong population hosts over 300 painted storks every winter. “I’m passionate about flying kites, but for the last two years, I haven’t flown one. I do climb the terrace during Uttarayan, but just to keep an eye on the storks and see to it that the kites don’t disturb them,” said Mayur.
Few villagers who can’t resist flying kites do so at noon, when the birds usually rest in their nests. The storks have been staying on the trees around a pond in the village for decades, but earlier the residents were not aware of this bird. “About 10 years ago, we started organising awareness programmes about painted storks in the village and explained to people how we should conserve these birds,” said Pravin Arya, who runs Society for Jeevrakshak for Animals with his son Rupesh.
The villagers soon developed a close bond with the storks, and started looking after them.
“About three years ago, a group of men used to sneak into the village at night and hunt the storks for meat. When the villagers got a whiff of it, they formed teams and started night patrolling in areas where the storks nest. Eventually, the hunting stopped,” said Arya.





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