A decision to this effect was taken at a board meeting held on Tuesday. Board president Brigadier Rajiv Sethi told Times of India: "We have asked board members to locate all such shops in their respective wards. The board will then send legal notices for their removal."

The board plans to hire a special vehicle to make public announcement to make people aware about the impending drive. As many as 50 such illegal shops are currently operating in various parts of the eight wards in the cantonment.

The issue was not part of the agenda for the meeting, but was raised by member Priyanka Shrigiri. She was of the opinion that the board should close slaughtering shops at the Shivaji market.

"Neither the board is getting adequate revenue from these slaughter houses nor are these shops maintaining the required hygiene in and around the market. Therefore, they should be shut down," Ms Shrigiri said and went on to furnish a list of illegal shops currently operating in the market.

The board's chief executive officer D N Yadav said the board had initiated a legal procedure in this regard recently.

"We had published a notice in newspapers and sought suggestions from people over shifting of the chicken shops at Shivaji market to four new locations. The maximum number of responses were received in favour of retaining the shops at the market," the chief executive officer of PCB said.

Meanwhile, board members Kiran Mantri and Vinod Mathurawala suggested that there was a dire need to overhaul the Shivaji market.

"Considering the current condition of the market, the board needs to vacate all shops and carry out renovation of its drainage system. Also, there's a need to restructure the stalls for adequate space," Ms Mantri said.