Though Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis now says the "abrupt" closure of pigeon feeding sites in Mumbai was not advisable and the BMC should ensure controlled feeding of the birds, his own government ordered shutting down of such spots a month ago.
The state government ordered a crackdown on ‘kabutarkhanas' weeks before the Bombay High Court, in a ruling on July 30, said feeding a congregation of pigeons was an act causing a public nuisance and posed a health hazard to people, and directed the Mumbai civic body to file FIRs against persons engaging in such an activity.
As the ban on feeding pigeons at public and heritage spots snowballed into a major controversy, Mr Fadnavis sought to take a more cautious and measured approach to avoid the matter ruffling more feathers ahead of the Mumbai civic body polls.
After the High Court order, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials on August 3 covered the Dadar Kabutarkhana, a grade II heritage structure and the most popular pigeon feeding site in Mumbai, with a tarpaulin sheet to stop people from accessing the spot.
The civic body has said it took action against 142 persons for feeding pigeons at 'kabutarkhanas' across the city and recovered a fine of Rs 68,700 from them between July 13 and August 3.
On Tuesday, Mr Fadnavis said the "abrupt" closure of kabutarkhanas (pigeon feeding spots) was not advisable, and asked the BMC to ensure a "controlled feeding" of the birds.
On Wednesday, protesters forcibly removed the tarpaulin put up by the city civic body to cover the Dadar Kabutarkhana.
The protesters, mostly members of the Jain community, clashed with police, who tried to stop them from removing the large plastic cover put on bamboo scaffolding at the site.
After cops dispersed the agitators, Mumbai suburban district guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha visited the spot and condemned the protest, saying police will take appropriate action in the matter.
The kabutarkhana issue was raised by Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande in the Maharashtra legislative council on July 3 during the monsoon session.
The nominated MLC had said 'kabutarkhanas' pose a danger to people living around them as their waste and feathers lead to respiratory diseases.
BJP leader Chitra Wagh, another nominated member of the council, had joined the debate and said she lost her aunt due to respiratory diseases arising from pigeon waste.
In an oral response, Industries Minister Uday Samant, replying on behalf of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who holds the urban development portfolio, said there were 51 'kabootarkhanas' in Mumbai.
"The civic body will be asked to start (an awareness) drive against 'kabutarkhanas' within a month. Directions will be issued to the BMC to immediately start the process of shutting down kabutarkhanas," Samant had told the Upper House of the state legislature.
Samant said there was a need to create awareness about the health hazards of feeding pigeons.
In a written response to a question by Kayande, Shinde said unauthorised kabutarkhanas in suburban Santacruz (East), Daulat Nagar and Santacruz (West) have been shut down.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
