Hyderabad has a pigeon problem: What the civic body intends to do

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has a new target – pesky pigeons that threaten to soil the roof of the recently restored Moazzam Jahi Market in the city. Earlier this week, in a major drive officials of the civic body caught around 500 pigeons which frequent the area and released them later in the city’s outskirts. In a press release, the GHMC said that as part of a major project for the restoration of heritage buildings, around Rs 10 crore was spent in restoring the Moazzam Jahi Market and almost 70% of the work was completed, including renovation of the clock tower and the main dome on the roof. However, with several hundred pigeons flocking to the area, the civic body said that this not only caused harm as bird droppings would deface the restored monuments, but also posed a health risk as the market had ice cream shops, meat shops and bakeries. The officials also advised people not to feed the pigeons in the area, as they were also causing respiratory illnesses among the city’s population, especially in children and older people. The civic body also reiterated that it had already banned the feeding of pigeons in all horticultural parks in Hyderabad that were under its jurisdiction and also seized sorghum that was being sold near the market, as it was mainly being bought by citizens to feed the pigeons. The GHMC hopes that with this move it can keep the premises of the market cleaner. Media reports suggest that in similar drives undertaken in the future, officials might strap a band to the legs of the pigeons to check if the same birds were returning to the city, as they are known to have an excellent homing sense. The Moazzam Jahi Market was built by the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, in 1935. Named after his second son Moazzam Jah, it was constructed as a flower and fruit market, but now hosts several popular eateries.