Sunday morning saw a protest at Gateway of India in Mumbai over pigeons and their right to co-exist with humans. The peaceful march from the Jain temple in Colaba to the national monument — where pigeons are part of the landscape — was only the latest chapter in a growing controversy over pigeon-feeding stations in the city.
It came a day after workers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) covered a ‘kabootarkhana’ (pigeon spot/shelter) in Dadar by erecting a bamboo structure.
Also read | ‘Being fed pizza-burger, causing deaths’: Pigeon issue reaches Maharashtra legislature
And it was almost exactly a month after pigeons — widely dubbed now as “rats of the avian world” for being disease carriers — came up in the Maharashtra legislative council.
The police have also been in on the action, having filed an FIR against an unknown person for feeding pigeons — reportedly the first such FIR. Laws related to “public nuisance” and “disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant”, which can lead to imprisonment for up to a year, have been used.
Some activists have, meanwhile, approached the court to protect “heritage” feeding spots.
‘Destroyed their home’
On Sunday, protesters from the Jain community held up placards carrying couplets and slogans in Marathi and Hindi, asking, “What was the fault of the poor birds, that you destroyed their home?”
But health experts link the rising population of pigeons with a rise in respiratory illnesses caused by their droppings and feathers.
In the legislative council last month, one of the members cited a death in her family due to a lung disease linked with pigeons.
The state government thereafter directed the municipal authorities to take strict action against unauthorised kabootarkhanas across the city, HT reported.
The issue may seem limited to Mumbai, but is part of a wider debate on urbanisation and defining some species as “pests”.
The population of pigeons in India has increased rapidly, as per the 2023 State of India’s Birds report. The report says the pigeon has “successfully adapted to live in human habitation to nest on human structures, and to feed on whatever humans provide”. Besides lung issues, pigeon droppings cause fungal infections that can reach the brain, research has shown.