Mandya: Sheer negligence on the part of the officials of Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) in K.R. Pet, have rendered nearly 350 birds of various species, mainly Cormorants homeless.

On Saturday, CNNL engaged workers to cut branches of a few trees in its premises, which was done without taking precautionary measures despite knowing that there were hundreds of nests on those trees.

It was heart-rending to see, as the branches of trees were chopped, several fledglings fell off from the trees and were killed. Even then, the chopping work was continued which resulted in birds being buried under branches.

On seeing this, some children, who were weeping bitterly, took some young birds to their homes to nurture them.

The Forest Department officials, who were informed about the incident, immediately swung into action and made sure that dozens of young birds were carefully traced and rescued from the vicinity.

The rescue personnel also found several carcasses of Cormorants on the ground crushed by the branches and suspected that some may have been eaten away by cats and dogs.

About 150 rescued fledglings were transported in cages and paper boxes and were released into Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary. Though many were in the age of flying, they were unable to fly as they were frightened and shocked.

It is learnt that the CNNL officials had not obtained prior permission from the Forest Department to cut down branches and the Department, which has taken the incident seriously, will be filing a criminal case against the concerned under the Wildlife Protection Act.