Bhopal: City of Lakes to be pig-free by month end

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Bhopal, known as City of Lakes, will be free of pigs by end of this month. Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched a campaign to make state capital pig-free.

The BMC teams have been pressed into service to drive pigs out of city limit. At present, pigs can be spotted across the city, posing health risk to residents.

Bhopal municipal council chairman Kishan Suryavanshi said Bhopal would be a pig-free city by May 31. “Breeders are selling pigs to villagers outside Bhopal municipal limit as they have realised that BMC administration will not allow them to do farming in city now,” he told Free Press.

He added, “No one can tolerate pig breeding within city limit. We cannot risk health of a city with a population of 25 lakh at any cost. Pigs are a big headache as they break sewerage lines, attack children and cause accidents.”

Legal recourse

2014: Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court asked Shivpuri civic body to shift pig farming outside city limit, failing which animals will be culled.

2012: A petition was filed at Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court highlighting the menace posed by pigs in Shivpuri, stating pigs were being reared locally. Petitioner had pointed out that the pigs were carriers of diseases.