Mumbai, Dec 16: Late Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna's first wife Geetanjali died at the family's farmhouse in Maharashtra's Raigad district, police said Sunday.

She was 70.

Geetanjali and her actor son Akshaye Khanna were visiting the farmhouse located at Mandwa over the weekend.

She complained of uneasiness at the farmhouse on Saturday evening following which she was taken to a hospital in Chondi village, Mandva police station in-charge, assistant police inspector Meghna Burande said.

After treatment at the hospital, Geetanjali and her son returned to the farmhouse where the actor took her to the bedroom and asked her to take rest, she said.

Akshaye Khanna later went out of the farmhouse for sometime. When he returned, he enquired with a care-taker about his mother and then went to her bedroom where he found her unconscious, the official said.

He then called doctors again at the local hospital and also his brother-actor Rahul Khanna in Mumbai.

On doctor's advice, he took his mother to the Alibaug-based civil hospital where she was declared dead, Burande said.

After the postmortem at the civil hospital on Sunday morning, the body was handed over to the family, she said.

"It appeared to be a natural death, but doctors have preserved the viscera to ascertain the exact cause of demise," the official said.

"We recorded Rahul Khanna's statement and have not found anything suspicious," she said, adding that the last rites of the deceased were performed by the family members at Alibaug on Sunday afternoon.

Vinod Khanna, who had served a BJP MP, died in April last year at the age of 70.

He had divorced Geetanjali in 1985. In 1990, he got married again to Kavita, with whom, he had a son, Sakshi, and a daughter, Shraddha.

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Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has issued directions to municipal corporations across the state to regulate and prohibit feeding pigeons in public places, citing serious public health concerns.

Deputy Secretary to Government V Lakshmikanth has written to the Urban Development Department requesting it to issue directions to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and all municipal corporations to take immediate steps to implement the measures.

In an official note dated December 16 issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department and released to the media on Wednesday, the department said uncontrolled feeding of pigeons in public places has resulted in large congregations of birds, excessive droppings and serious health concerns, particularly respiratory illnesses linked to prolonged exposure to pigeon droppings and feathers such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other lung diseases.

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"The commissioner, the Greater Bengaluru Authority and the Commissioners and chief officers of other municipal corporations shall take necessary action to mitigate the causes of dangerous disease spread by pigeon and enforce specified guidelines in their respective jurisdiction," the note said.

According to the department, these include a prohibition on feeding pigeons or causing pigeons to be fed in areas where it may cause nuisance or pose a health hazard to the public. Pigeon feeding shall be permitted only in designated areas in a controlled manner, subject to certain conditions.

"The designated areas may be selected in consultation with stakeholders. The responsibility for upkeep of the designated areas and compliance to the directions shall be taken up by some charitable organisation or an NGO. The feeding in designated areas shall be permitted only for some limited hours in the day," it said.

The note further stated that authorised officers of local authorities shall issue on-the-spot warnings and may impose fines for violation of the order, or lodge complaints to prosecute offenders under Sections 271 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 272 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

It also directed local authorities to conduct public awareness campaigns, including the display of signboards, banners and digital messages, explaining the health hazards associated with pigeon droppings and feathers, the content of the regulatory directions and penalties for violations, and alternative humane methods of bird conservation that do not endanger public health.