Pindi bans pigeon flying around Nur Khan Airbase
The district administration has banned pigeon flying, placing large cages on rooftops and aerial firing in the one-kilometre vicinity of Chaklala (Nur Khan) Airbase under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). A grand operation will be launched against the violators from May 13 (today).
A joint team of the Pakistan Air Force, the Civil Defence and the police paid a detailed visit to the one-kilometre radius of the areas surrounding the airbase and sites of landing and take-off and found a good number of pigeons and their cages on the rooftops in areas of Ali Nawaz Chauhan Chowk, Lahtrari Road, Chah Sultan, Dhol Laliyal, Jahaz Ground, Band Khanna Road and KRL Road.
Officials issued red notices to the house owners to remove pigeons and their cages by Sunday night, otherwise, the field teams would start breaking and confiscating cages and seizing pigeons and imposing a Rs100,000 fine from Monday.
When contacted, the District Officer Civil Defence confirmed that the joint survey revealed that some incidents of bird collisions with planes occurred in the last week after which pigeon flying has been declared completely illegal in the airbase’s areas.
He said that from Monday onward an operation would be launched from street to street in association with the police, adding the lady police have also been arranged to go to the rooftops. The officer added that an operation was also carried out in the last 10 days of April and the citizens were given time to remove pigeons and their cages, but they failed to implement it.
All four sides of the airbase would be cleared of pigeons and pigeon cages in the three days of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and the violators would be fined on the spot, booked in cases and would be sent to jail, the DO maintained.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2024.