Environmentalists have written to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav opposing the construction of bird towers in Ujjain, citing that it is "unnatural and impractical" to provide such facility to free-ranging birds.

In a letter to the chief minister, The Nature Volunteers (TNV) society, an NGO, claimed many such towers were being built in Ujjain in violation of norms of the state government order issued in November 2021.

The society's president, Padma Shri Bhalu Mondhe, in the letter, said, "Experience has been that 'flying rats,' as the Indian rock pigeons are called, will occupy these towers; neither the state bird Paradise Fly Catcher nor a Golden Oriole will go to nest there, not to speak of water birds or the different arboreal species." Wildlife expert and former Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Suhas Kumar said rock pigeons carry dangerous bacteria and a particular type of protein that damages the human lungs severely.

"Cement concrete structures for birds is a new fad from Gujarat. The Nature Volunteers had opposed it and got an official order issued from the state government to discourage and ban the construction of bird towers in 2021," environmentalist Abhilash Khandekar told PTI.

Bird towers were constructed in Vasant Vihar and near Muni Nagar for 315 birds each, corporator Gopal Balvani of Ward 27 said.

Ujjain collector Neeraj Kumar Singh clarified that an individual or NGO may have constructed such towers, but the government has no such plans.

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