Hyderabad: Public still dogged by irksome issue

Charminar : The claims of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) of taking sufficient measures to control the dog population are strongly contested by the people here. There are allegations that after the officials started rounding up stray dogs for sterilisation, the number of dogs being left back at the same spot actually doubled.

The issue of stray dog menace has raised hackles of the public, particularly after a 9-year-old boy in Bahadurpura died in a recent incident. Social activists claim that the GHMC veterinary department has failed to catch dogs and its sterilisations drive is a farce.

According to a social activist based in Yakutpura, for the last one week, the veterinary wing of GHMC in Charminar zone has been conducting special drives to catch street dogs. But even now there are on an average a dozen dogs in each area and at least 100 in each division in parts of Old City.

"GHMC Veterinary department is claiming that they are catching the street dogs and are being left back in same areas after sterilisation. But it has been observed that the dogs are being caught, but most of them are not sterilised.

And if they are catching 4 dogs, after a few days there are 4-5 new dogs in the area. They are leaving more dogs and their number has gone up," alleges Abdul Rahman, a social activist.

"Vet department is not taking sterilisation drives for street dogs and is simply sending back the dogs which were caught instead of keeping them in shelter homes. There is a shelter home in Chudi Bazar near Muslim Jung Pul, where the street dogs are kept.

But it remains vacant. Most of the dogs are released back in the area by saying that the shelter house is full," he alleged. "An incident that occurred recently has scared the people so badly that they are afraid to venture out of their homes. Several accidents also occur in areas as the dogs chase bikes and cars," said Shujath Ahmed, a resident of Santosh Nagar.

When contacted, the assistant director of veterinary wing, Dr Sadguna, said that around 70 dogs were caught and sterilised in the six circles of Charminar zone and the drive is still going on. "After the incident in Bahadurpura, around 36 dogs were caught, vaccinated and sterilised," she added.