Controlling the menace
Few weeks back the Jammu Municipal Corporation announced that 70 per cent of the stray dog population in the city limits will be sterilised with a target-oriented approach in the next one-and-a-half years. This announcement was made after JMC over the past several months conducted over 17,800 sterilisation surgeries to control the stray dog population.
These measures conducted under the animal birth control (ABC) programme in all the 75 wards of the corporation will mean that the stray dog menace in Jammu city will be controlled to a large extent.
Jammu city too has been witnessing increase in the number of stray dogs and people have been raising this issue from several years now. Though the ABC programme will ensure some respite but things may not witness a change and it may take many years to actually rid the city of the troublesome canine population.
Since Jammu and Srinagar cities have been shortlisted for conversion into smart cities the canine issue needs to be resolved on priority basis.
Ironically, Kashmir and in particular Srinagar city too has been witnessing the increase in canine population since the past more than a decade now.
Rough estimates suggest that Srinagar city alone has a population of more than 40,000 stray dogs. The dog menace has resulted in several issues which should have come to the mind of the administration way back. But it seems that the issue does not bother them as the problem is mainly confined to old city and semi-urban areas.
As per a report there have been around 6000 cases of dog bites in last one year. Despite tall claims by the authorities and Srinagar Municipal Corporation, the population of stray dogs in the city is only increasing in leaps and bounds.
The problem of increasing stray dog population has hit the capital city as the administration has failed to put in place all those measures that could have provided to keep a check on their growing numbers.
Worldwide various countries are resorting to different approaches to control the menace. Key among them are sheltering besides killing and sterilization of stray dogs, but unfortunately the administration has been lacking on many fronts.
Though, SMC did announce a major sterilization program some years back but the output has been very dismal. This has proven that resorting to a single approach to curtail the canine numbers is not going to achieve the desired results.
Few months back the administration announced to increase the sterilization ration from 10 to 100 dogs per day but is the measure sufficient enough to get their increasing numbers under control.
The increased canine numbers has resulted in various problems that are going unnoticed. One such issue is the excreta that this ever increased populace of dogs is strewing the roads and lanes in every nook and corner.
Besides, during the night hours the dogs get so hyperactive that in most of the area’s residents complain that they hardly get to sleep in peace due to the continuous barking of the dogs during the entire night. The small children and the elderly who are ill feel tormented by such nuisance day in and day out.
This being just the tip of the iceberg, the authorities’ need to go in a huddle and help some sanity to prevail and make the schemes like the smart city project and ‘Swatch Bharat’ look rationale. Otherwise, the entire place will look like a ‘dog inhabited’ and damned place that will no longer be fit for humans to dwell into.
KV Network
