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Bengaluru: BJP MLA and former minister S Suresh Kumar has urged the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to prohibit feeding pigeons in public parks.
In a letter to GBA Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao, Kumar said residents have complained about people feeding pigeons at Netaji Park in Basaveshwara Nagar.
"The pollution in the city is already harming the lungs of people and multiple reports have proved that pigeons are harmful for people’s health,” he said.
Doctors warned that close contact with pigeons could lead to severe respiratory illnesses, including lung failure.
Ravindra Mehta, Senior Consultant and Head of Pulmonology, said, "Feeding pigeons and cleaning their droppings leads to hypersensitivity pneumonia, which causes inflamed and scarred lungs, and may also result in liver failure.” He added that lung failures caused by pigeons have been known for long, but awareness has increased only in recent years.
Dr Pragathi Rao, Senior Consultant, Pulmonology, said, “Exposure to feathers and droppings leads to lung damage, and only early detection makes it reversible. Otherwise, it can cause irreversible shrinkage of lungs and can be fatal.”
The GBA chief said the letter would be examined and further action would be decided.