Hyderabad takes note of hazards posed by pigeons, puts them on notice

HYDERABAD: The blue rock pigeon, one of the commonest birds in urban areas, has been given notice. At least at the main entrance of the KBR National Park in Banjara Hills. Every morning and in the evening, a man armed with a stick stands guard there and drives the birds away from the driveway outside the park gates.

“It is my turn to do this job now,” says Sridhar, a guard at the park, who otherwise patrols its pathway that is popular with morning and evening walkers.”We used to have hundreds of pigeons here, but now this place is clean,” he says, pointing to the cemented stretch with pride. “Yesterday, I asked sweepers (employed by the municipal corporation) to clear this place of droppings. See how clean it looks today,” says Sridhar, beaming with pride after a job well done. “We paid them extra money , given by our officials.”

But with no studies ever conducted in Hyderabad on the health impact of large congregations of blue rock pigeons on humans who come in close contact with them, Naveen says the case so far is of “noth ing reported, nobody both ered”.