According to a report by Better India, Putha Kodi village in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu has turned off its street lights for the last 35 days.
According to the report, Karpo Raja, a college student, is in charge of running street lights in the area who saw a bird nesting inside the switchboard after the lockdown was imposed.
"My house is at the end of a street with a main switch for 35 street lights," said the student.
"Since I was a child, I would open them at 6 pm and close them at 5 am," he said.
He added: "When I went out of my house one afternoon, I saw a small blue bird flying in and out of the switchboard. Out of curiosity, I looked closer. It turned out that he was collecting sticks and straw.
"I didn't know which bird it was, but I saw it building its nest," he said.
He said he wanted the bird to be allowed to take refuge in the area next month without interruption and that doing so meant he could not turn on the 35 street lights installed between 100 houses.
To find a solution, he soon conveyed the message to others in the village through WhatsApp and took the matter to the village panchayat.
"I was surprised when the boy asked me to cut the power line for a bird, so I decided to see it for myself," said the panchayat chief.
"The bird had made a nest and was surrounded by leaves, grass and straw," he said.
"During the lockdown, I saw a lot of people on the streets struggling to find a place to live and I did not want to see the birds in this situation and agreed to cut the power line," the panchayat chief said. '
