Seven villages in Tamil Nadu celebrate silent Deepavali to conserve birds in nearby bird sanctuary
Erode: As the boom of firecrackers filled the air across the country celebrating Deepavali with gusto, seven villages in Erode district of Tamil Nadu decided to mark the festival with just lights, and no sound, in a gesture considerate of the winged inhabitants of the bird sanctuary nearby.
The villages are located around Vadamugam Vellode, 10 kilometres from Erode where the bird sanctuary is situated.
Thousands of local bird species and migratory birds from other regions visit the sanctuary between October and January to lay eggs and hatch them.
As Diwali usually falls in the month of October or November, the more than 900 families living around the bird sanctuary took the decision to save the birds and not scare them off by bursting crackers.
They have been following this conservation approach for the past 22 years. The villagers said that during Deepavali (Diwali), they buy their children new clothes and allow them to only burn sparklers, and not burst crackers.
This year as well, the villages of Sellappampalayam, Vadamugam Vellode, Semmandampalayam, Karukkankattu Valasu, Pungampadi and two other villages upheld the respectful tradition of a silent Deepavali.
As the families joyfully celebrated Deepavali in their own way, thousands of birds remained safe and blissfully unaware at the sanctuary, with no incident reported on Saturday and Sunday.
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KSRTC to run 1000 special services to clear Christmas rush
Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation will operate 1000 additional special services in view of the Christmas festival.
In addition to the existing schedule, the special services will run on 19.12.2025, 20.12.2025 and 24.12.2025. Further, special buses will be operated from various places of intra & Interstate places to Bengaluru on 26.12.2025 & 28.12.2025.
Special buses will be exclusively operated from Bengaluru Kempegowda Bus Station to Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shivamogga, Hassan, Mangaluru, Kundapura, Shringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubbali, Dharwad, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Ballari, Koppala, Yadgir, Bidar, Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and other places.
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Special buses from Mysuru Road Bus Station will be exclusively operated towards Mysuru, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalanagar, Madikeri.
The corporation has also announced a discount of 5 per cent on the fare if four or more passengers book tickets under a single reservation. A discount of 10 per cent will be extended on return journey tickets if onward and return tickets are booked simultaneously.
In addition to the above, special buses will be operated from all Taluk/District Bus Stands in the jurisdiction of KSRTC based on the traffic needs.
