The Times of India          07.11.2013 

BMC evicts fish, meat vendors

BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday evicted around 20 fish and a few chicken vendors at Khandagiri here.

"We intensified the eviction drive after the Biju Patnaik Airport was accorded the international status," said BMC's city health officer Chandrika Prasad Das. These non-vegetarian counters attract birds, posing threat to the flights.

There had been a spurt in bird-hit incidents with 15 collisions being reported in the last two years.

The airport authorities blamed the civic body for failing to evict roadside butcheries, fish and chicken outlets along the boundary and surrounding areas of the runway.

Sources said there was a ban on sale of meat within one-km radius of the airport and runway. The prohibition on meat vendors was recently imposed near Punama Gate, Bhimtangi Housing Board, Lingaraj railway station, Pokhariput, Jagamara and Dharmavihar.

Though a few bird hit incidents had earlier prompted the BMC to go for eviction drives, things were soon back to square one. The BMC recently destroyed bird nests by pruning trees around the airport.