The population of feral pigeons in Hyderabad has exploded in recent years due to people feeding them in public places, all over the city. People feed them, mainly, as they are told it is an auspicious thing to do. Be that as it may, one could feed the birds within one’s own property, rather than litter public property without any remorse towards one’s civic responsibilities. Almost no area in the city is without its space where people, from all walks of life, feed pigeons. The only reason for the explosion of the pigeon population is this abundant supply of food. The unnatural and meteoric rise in the population of pigeons, fattened upon our charity, has resulted in a spike in human deaths due to a respiratory malady called Fibrosis of the lungs, or interstitial lung disease, where the soft tissue of the lung gradually stiffens like cardboard, thereby reducing the functional area available for breathing—slowly choking a person to death. Pulmonologists are taken aback by the number of cases they see weekly. It is pertinent to state here that rapid fibrosis of the lungs also afflicts victims of COVID-19, the viral pandemic that has crippled the world.

This enforced lock down period has seen a very encouraging reduction of pigeons on their feeding haunts simply because no one is going out and feeding them. If this continues for 2-3 weeks or more, the birds will necessary seek food elsewhere. Their population will crash. This is an opportunity for the authorities to pass a law that bans people from feeding pigeons in public places for it causes irretrievable damage to human health, increases the instances of littering public places with food, and the inevitable pigeon poop, and defaces public property when the birds nest in human habitations, thereby victimising the non-participating public with the threat of disease and dirt.

Authorities could prominently publicise the deleterious effects of feeding pigeons in public places and impose prohibitive fines to discourage people from doing so. I urge you to support this petition so that the government sees the merit of our case and prods the departments of health, and city municipalities to bring about and enforce a law that will ban the feeding of pigeons in public places, ensuring a cleaner and healthier city of the people of Hyderabad.