SINCE 2021, Nagpur has recorded a staggering 44,660 dogbite incidents, resulting in 9,946 significant injuries. The figures show a persistent year-on-year increase in the attacks, with a peak of 10,944 cases and 2,173 injuries in the year 2025. Recent data obtained from the Nagpur M u n i c i p a l C o r p o r a t i o n (NMC) Health D e p a r t m e n t through Right to I n f o r m a t i o n (RTI) initiated by activist Abhay Kolarkar, paints a grim picture of the city’s escalating stray dog menace.

 

Perhaps most alarming is the data for the first two months of 2026, which shows 1,060 dog-bite cases and a sudden spike in fatalities, with 8 rabies-related deaths already recorded by the end of February. Escalating attacks raise public safety concerns IN 2021, the city recorded 5,800 dog-bite cases, a number that surged to over 8,300 in 2022, 9,110 in 2023, 9,429 in 2024, while in the year 2025, the figure crossed the 10,000-mark with 10,944 such cases. The RTI data reveals a broader problem with urban wildlife and stray animals. Between April 2021 and February 2026, 6,126 individuals were bitten by other animals, including monkeys and donkeys, with the number of these other attacks more than doubling from 546 in 2021-22 to 2,238 from April 2025 to February 2026.

 

Sterilisation efforts vs ground reality TO CURB rising population, the NMC’s Solid Waste Management Department has intensified its Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme. Since mid-2023, three specialised agencies have sterilised a total of 69,389 dogs across centres in Bhandewadi, Gorewada, and Maharajbagh. This includes 35,264 males and 34,136 females. However, despite these mass sterilisation efforts, the RTI response indicates a complete lack of progress in relocating stray animals from high-traffic public areas. When asked how many dogs had been moved from railway stations, courts, and other public squares to shelter homes following the court orders, the administration’s official response was ‘Nil’ (Zero). 

 

 

THE data provided by Epidemic Officer Dr Govardhan Navkhare and Public Information Officer Suresh Shivankar, serves as a stark reminder that sterilisation alone may not be enough to curb the immediate danger. With rabies deaths in early 2026 already surpassing the total for the previous two years combined, citizens are demanding more visible preventive measures and the strict enforcement of relocation mandates for stray animals in public hotspots.