Even as the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme remains stalled, stray dogs in Indraprastha Layout, Swavalambi Nagar, continue to create nuisance for residents daily. According to Indraprastha Layout residents, stray dogs have been a menace in the area for over a decade, and have started causing damage to property as well. In a recent incident, a resident shared, “Our neighbour’s househelp had come and parked her vehicle outside. A stray dog came and sat on the seat.

 

Then it chew the handlebars, tore up the seat cover, and even gnawed the start button off. They had to give money to her so that she could have the two-wheeler repaired, as she could not afford it.” This is not an isolated incident. Locals also alleged that a a few dogs that had taken shelter underneath parked cars during the summer had chewed on or ripped off wires and tubings on the underside of the car, resulting in damages amounting to roughly Rs 50,000. The nuisance is not limited to property alone. Locals said that around a year ago, the dogs had taken to attacking people, especially children, and a couple of children had been injured during this time.

 

Parthvi Munje, a resident near Kalode Udyaan, said that locals had multiple discussions on the subject and had contemplated approaching NMC with this issue, but some ‘animal activists’ in the area had been against the idea. “I agree that dogs too deserve to be treated humanely, but it should not come at the cost of risks to human life and property damage. The NMC should have some mechanism to identify stray dogs themselves and conduct regular patrolling rather than relying on complaints from citizens,” she said.

 

 

 

‘The Hitavada’ contacted Rishikesh Ingale, Chief Sanitary Officer, Laxmi Nagar Zone of NMC, who assured that appropriate action will be taken at Indraprastha Layout. He said, “As per our guidelines, we pick dogs that are overly aggressive or diseased. We take them in and have them sterilised. Sterilisation tones down their aggression, but we still ensure that the animal is not aggressive before we release it.”