Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Nov 1: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday announced that it has permitted “controlled feeding” of pigeons at four new locations in Mumbai, allowing the activity only for two hours each morning.

In an official release, the civic body stated that this move is an interim measure until the expert committee submits its report and the Bombay High Court issues further directions.

Pigeon feeding will now be permitted between 7 am and 9 am at the following sites:

• Worli Reservoir in G South Ward
• Mangrove area near Lokhandwala Back Road, close to the Vesave STP project in Andheri West (K West Ward)
• Creek area near the old Airoli-Mulund check post along the Airoli-Mulund Link Road in Mulund East (T Ward)
• Gorai Maidan in Borivali West (R Central Ward)

The BMC said that permission for feeding at these new spots will be granted only if voluntary organisations come forward to take responsibility for managing them. Such organisations will be required to maintain cleanliness, prevent obstruction to traffic or pedestrians, address citizen complaints, and sign an undertaking to comply with all civic conditions. Assistant Municipal Commissioners of the respective wards will serve as nodal officers, while signages will be installed to spread awareness about health concerns related to pigeon feeding.

The civic body also clarified that existing ‘kabutarkhanas’ — traditional pigeon-feeding spots — which were closed following Bombay High Court directives in August, will remain shut. Some of these sites, including the one at Dadar, were covered with plastic sheets to discourage feeding activities.

According to the BMC, it has received 9,779 objections, suggestions, and complaints from citizens on the issue, including concerns about hygiene, the continuation of pigeon feeding, and the need for regulated zones to manage the practice.