With approximately 1.5 lakh stray dogs in areas under North Delhi Municipal Corporation and over 31,000 cases of dog bites, Mayor Meera Agrawal today directed a mass sterilisation programme for the canines "on the lines of the pulse polio immunisation".
According to information provided by the veterinary department, there are approximately 1.5 lakh stray dogs in the NDMC. While 3859 were sterilised in the period between April 2012 and February 2013, 31,608 cases of dog bite were registered.
"If the NGOs tasked with the task could only sterilise 3,859 dogs in almost an entire year, how will we be able to control this problem," said Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Goyal in the House. He also raised objection to the fact that he was not provided with the details.
"In their reply, the officials of NDMC have said they do not have details about how many stray animals are there in the area, except dogs. This is completely unacceptable," he added.
Reacting to the discussion, the Mayor directed the commissioner's office to immediately start eliminating rabid dogs.
"The Municipal Corporation Act gives this power to the civic bodies. I request you to start work in this direction immediately," Agrawal told Commissioner PK Gupta.
"Also, your office should prepare a plan on the lines of the pulse polio immunisation scheme for the mass sterilisation of dogs to combat this rising problem," she said.
The issue of 867 vacant posts posts at different levels in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation was also raised in the House.
The commissioner's office gave the details of the gap between sanctioned posts and filled posts.
"This is a very serious issue and we would like that a special meeting of the House be called to discuss the issue," said Leader of the House Mahendra Nagpal, who along with BJP Councillor Vijay Prakash Pandey had submitted a short notice on the issue.
The Mayor promised a sitting of the House on this issue before March 31. "Since there is already a special meeting listed for next week, this issue will be taken up in the week following that," she said.
