Almost all roads and streets in Srinagar city are ruled by stray dogs. The ever increasing population of stray dogs is not visible in Srinagar city alone but all over Kashmir and is posing a great challenge to the populace. With this, the dog bite cases too are on rise and a cursory look at the records of Anti Rabies Clinic at SMHS Hospital alone is an indicator that how wide spread this menace is. Canine assaults have increased in rural areas as well, where vulnerable populations including the elderly and young children fall prey to stray dogs.
As poisoning of dogs was banned, the authorities were supposed to go for massive sterilization of dogs as the step was and is an animal friendly one and also an effective tool to keep the dog population under control. However, the concerned departments have failed to build the required infrastructure for the sterilization of stray dogs. For example, SMC has established sophisticated dog sterilization centres at Tengpora Bypass and Chatterhama areas of Srinagar. However, as per reports the sterilizing capacity of these centres is not upto the mark thus fail to address the alarmingly increasing dog population.
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This problem has been here from decades and the authorities have miserably failed to address it. In April 2015, the court directed the government to remove all the stray dogs from Srinagar by catching them and putting them in ponds, the government again failed to follow the court orders. The fact that the concerned authorities never took the issue seriously is evident when one sees how these authorities dealt with creation of dog ponds. Without proper application of mind the authorities in 2015 started building a pond at Shuhama, which is a populated area. Locals of the area, as expected, took to streets objecting the project there. Since then, the government is yet to identify land to build dog ponds far from the populated areas.
Another failure of the concerned authorities responsible for increasing dog population and subsequent dog bites is the issue of waste management. In Srinagar and other major towns, the garbage is scattered haphazardly inviting armies of dogs thus risking the life and limb of people particularly children and women. The civic authorities should wake up and launch a massive sterilization campaign. Besides they should go for proper waste management and also identify places where dog ponds could be made. The government should ensure ample funding so that sterilization centres are established all over.
