Bhopal: Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has only 45 men for catching around 2 lakh dogs in the state capital. This is the reason the civic body will now open as many as four centres for sterilisation of stray dogs. The decision comes amid ruckus in the council meet over rising population of stray dogs which are now posing threat to the commuters. The BMC will now call for tenders for the purpose.
The civic body has also increased the amount for the purpose from Rs 1.5 crore to 2.5 crore this year. The reason of opening these new centres is that the only centre currently working for the purpose is unable to curb the menace of stray dogs.
The only centre is run by an NGO Navoday vet society, which is now working for sterlisation or ABC (animal birth control) of the dogs and that has only two doctors and total 13 men for the purpose of catching stray dogs. The civic body claims to have carried out ABC of as many as 70,000 dogs since 2013 and now aims to sterilise the dogs left.
The BMC squad for catching dogs has 45 men but they do not go to catch dogs on their own and only set out for the purpose once they receive a complaint on the call centre of the civic body. The BMC claims to have spent Rs 4.5 crore since 2013 for the ABC of dogs and has carried out 55 such ABC surgeries on daily basis.
According to Dr SK Shrivastav, veterinary officer of the BMC said that the Navoday society had four doctors but two have left and only two are carrying out surgeries. Now we have planned to open three extra centres for which we will float tenders as the number of dogs in the city is between 1.5 lakh and 2 lakh.