Mumbai: BMC shuts kabootar khana, locals furious

13 December,2019 07:10 AM IST |  Mumbai  |  A correspondent

Civic body says it was a traffic island; to probe trust tasked with beautifying it in Khar

The kabootar khana was covered with plastic by the BMC


The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) H West ward office is likely to probe a trust which was tasked with beautifying a traffic island in Khar, which became a kabootar khana. The civic body has declared the kabootar khana illegal and wants it to be shut down as it is being seen as a threat to public hygiene. But some residents from the area have alleged that the BMC's move is leading to pigeons dying of hunger and being run over by vehicles as they have no place to go.

Pic/ Lajwanti D'Souza

Assistant Municipal Commissioner Vinayak Vispute said, "We are probing how a traffic island became a kabootar khana. This activity is completely illegal and could affect public hygiene. The kabootar khana was closed mainly after residents complained."

Pic/Lajwanti D'Souza

Locals opposing the BMC's move approached officials and asked them to let people feed pigeons. Furkan Shaikh, general secretary of the Nationalist Student Congress and a local, said, "I took many dead pigeons to the ward office but I was not allowed to go inside. We were asked to leave the birds outside and meet the ward officer. We told the officer that the birds are going hungry and many have died. The BMC has deployed marshals who are fining people trying to feed the birds. On Thursday evening, the covers put by BMC were torn by a few so that birds could be fed."

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