Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha on Sunday inaugurated a new `kabutarkhana` (pigeon feeding enclosure) at the Teen Murti Jain temple in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali area of Mumbai, reported the PTI.
“This space has been provided by the Digambar Jain community. My expectation is that each ward should have an authorised kabutarkhana. Every administrative ward must have one such facility. Since Mumbai has faced issues related to this, we have begun from here,” Lodha said, according to the PTI.
He said the community came forward to start the enclosure on its land when pigeon feeding stations across the city were being shut down.
“The Digambar Jain community owns nine acres inside the national park area where all animals and birds can roam freely. After the Bombay High Court ordered closure of kabutarkhanas, we have found a legal way to establish this one. It will always be a matter of pride that this is Mumbai`s first such facility post the court`s directive,” the minister said, as per the PTI.
📍बोरीवली
संजय गांधी राष्ट्रीय उद्यान के तीन मूर्ति पोदनपुर में आज नए कबूतरखाने का अनावरण किया । श्री आदिनाथ दिगम्बर जैन मंदिर की ओर से यह कार्यक्रम आयोजित किया गया था ।
कबूतर प्रकृति का हिस्सा है, उसकी रक्षा करना हमारा दायित्व है, किन्तु मानवी आरोग्य को भी इससे बाधा ना हो यह… pic.twitter.com/AdU6wYvwau
— Mangal Prabhat Lodha (@MPLodha) September 14, 2025
The move comes against the backdrop of the recent controversy over the Dadar kabutarkhana, where some residents had said that pigeon droppings were causing respiratory issues and nuisance in the locality.
While many citizens demanded its removal, members of the Jain community had opposed the move, asserting that they would take responsibility for its upkeep.
The dispute eventually reached the high court.
Meanwhile, last month, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has called on citizens to submit their views on whether pigeons at Kabutarkhanas across the city should be fed in a controlled manner.
On August 13, the BMC had informed the Bombay High Court that it intends to permit controlled feeding of pigeons at the Dadar Kabutarkhana for two hours each morning, from 6 am to 8 am, subject to specific conditions.
A bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Arif Doctor, however, stated that before granting any such permission, the BMC has to first issue a public notice inviting objections and then take a decision on allowing controlled feeding of the birds at the popular site in Dadar.
Since the BMC`s decision to close kabutarkhanas (pigeon feeding spots) in the city and prohibit feeding of pigeons was in the larger interest of public health, the sanctity of the same has to be maintained, the court noted, while hearing a bunch of petitions.
Earlier, tarpaulin sheets were placed at the Dadar Kabutarkhana, a popular pigeon feeding site, by the BMC to prevent people from offering grains to the birds, a move which had led to protests during which the covers were forcibly removed by agitators.
(with PTI inputs)
