GHMC plans 26 steps to tackle strays

Hyderabad: A GHMC committee that was constituted to control the dog menace after strays mauled a four-year-old child to death in Amberpet here last month, on Saturday submitted a report with 26 recommendations.

Setting out a two-year deadline, the committee’s recommendation was to increase personnel at all the 150 wards to work on stray dog issues, hiring a veterinary field assistant for every two wards, and filling 19 vacancies of veterinary officers.

The GHMC has 50 stray dog catching vehicles, and the committee said the corporation must hire 10 more along with staff to ensure that each of the 30 circles has two vehicles. The corporation must complete sterilisation of street dogs within the stipulated two years.

Submitting the report, the committee members suggested that veterinary, sanitation and health departments take up coordinated measures to control dog bites. Steps should be taken to increase the current number of sterilisations from 300 to 400 per day. Dog squad teams must work even at nights, it said.  

The committee which visited the GHMC's animal care centres at Fathullaguda, Chudi Bazaar, Patelnagar, KPHB, and Mahadevpur from March 6 to March 18 said infrastructure must be increased to undertake more sterilisation of dogs.

Proper and quick garbage and meat waste disposal and vaccination were the other suggestions that the committee made. It suggested making corporators members of zonal level monitoring committees, checking illegal dog breeding establishments and encouraging adoption of stray puppies.

The committee said welfare organisations must be involved in awareness programmes in coordination with citizen groups and elected representatives. The people must be made aware that relocation of stray dogs is not permitted and ways to detect if a dog is sterilised or not, the need to providing water bowls and feeding bowls to reduce the street dogs' aggression. Short film video contests and film ads are to be taken up to create more awareness.

The committee comprised corporators C.N. Reddy (Rahmathnagar), V. Sravan (Malkajgiri), Rajasekhar Reddy J. (Vanasthalipuram), Syed Sohall Qadri (Patherghatti) and Mirza Mustafa Baig (Riyasathnagar), GHMC additional commissioner (health) Shruti Ojha, veterinary officer Abdul Vakil, joint commissioner (sanitation) Sandhya, The co-ordinator was Dr J.P. Wilson.

It held discussions with animal welfare organisations, NGOs, volunteers, feeders and dog lovers and took feedback from GHMC officials and drew up the recommendations which the committee said would rid the city of rabies within two years, by the end of 2025.

The committee submitted the report to city mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi who said some measures were already being taken up at the field level.

Vijayalakshmi directed officials to take joint measures for the control of stray dogs by veterinary, health and sanitation department. The joint commissioner was tasked with appointing a sanitation jawan to remove garbage from hotels, restaurants and function halls.

The mayor ordered the officials to arrange 60 vehicles, two per circle, to catch strays. She said that the government has taken all measures to conduct anti-birth control operations in the municipalities.