SRINAGAR: With the much hyped dog sterilization program launched in 2013, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation has so far proved to be unable to deliver the desired results. Local populace believes here that street dog numbers has increased which continue to affect people in majority of the areas of Srinagar city. Local residents said, “The control methods used are inadequate, as trapping is rarely a method that is considered and is totally undervalued and underutilized”.
People blame authorities for not taking appropriate steps to reduce the increasing dog population. The cases reported with Socio and Preventive Medicine Department at the SMHS Hospital, the only tertiary care hospital in the Valley, has registered scores of dog bits during the recent years, sources said. According to official figures, approximately 1,00,000 dog bite cases were recorded in the Valley in the past six years. In Srinagar alone, hundreds of people were bitten by canines. According to official data, there are about 48,000 dogs in the city, but unofficial estimates say the number is more than 1,00,000.
One of the local Majeed said that the government is not serious in solving this grave issue. “Something needs to be done timely to check the menace”, he said. Residents said that the situation is worse in the outskirts where the municipal corporation is not that active is checking the menace. The inhabitants complained that even though hundreds of dogs’ prowl in the area, the authorities had failed to check the menace. Official was not available for comment.