Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday called for a focused, coordinated and humane response to the growing stray dog menace in Srinagar, directing the concerned departments and Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to accord the issue top priority and work towards tangible results.
Chairing a review meeting on the issue, the chief minister, as per an official press release, observed that the stray dog menace has emerged as one of the foremost practical concerns for residents of Srinagar, with the issue affecting the daily lives and sense of security of citizens across the city and beyond.
The chief minister noted that the progress in addressing the issue in Jammu through better handling of sterilisation coverage needs to be replicated in Kashmir division. He questioned why the relatively better implementation of Animal Birth Control (ABC) being followed in Jammu has not been implemented efficiently in Kashmir.
“Within the same territory, we have achieved around 80 percent sterilisation in Jammu, while Srinagar has not been able to make comparable progress. If we have demonstrated that it can be done in Jammu, we should be able to replicate that success in Srinagar,” the chief minister said.
Seeking a clear assessment of the requirements of the concerned departments in terms of veterinary surgeons, paravets and other support staff needed in Kashmir division, Omar Abdullah assured full government support for the resources needed to undertake the work in a sustained manner and directed to immediately engage the requisite staff and take immediate action on ground to address the issue of dog menace including measures for quick disposal of garbage dumps so that dogs do not thrive on road side piles of food waste.
CM also exhorted SMC and JMC to deal with garbage disposal within municipal areas in quick time, which is seen as a major hazard by the public as giving rise to dog menace and giving an impression of polluted cities.
He directed that a dedicated team be constituted within SMC to address the issue in mission mode, with emphasis on substantially increasing the number of trained dog catchers, scaling up sterilisation operations and strengthening the availability of veterinary doctors and trained personnel.
The chief minister stressed that the response must be humane and in accordance with established procedures, while remaining focused on effectively controlling the stray dog population and addressing the concerns of citizens.
He called for greater coordination among the Housing & Urban Development Department, Health and Medical Education Department, SMC and other concerned agencies to ensure that the measures adopted translate into measurable improvement on the ground.
The chief minister said the objective should be to develop a sustainable and effective mechanism for addressing the stray dog issue not only in Srinagar but across Jammu and Kashmir.
Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Dheeraj Gupta, Commissioner Secretary Housing & Urban Development Mandeep Kaur, Commissioner Secretary Health & Medical Education M Raju, Commissioner Secretary Education, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Inspector General of Police Jammu Zone, Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation and other concerned officers attended the meeting.
Jammu-based officers took part in the meeting through video conferencing.
