Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, July 31
Finally, the civil wing of the Municipal Corporation Amritsar (MCA) has completed the construction of an Animal Birth Control Centre at Gumanpura for sterilisation of stray canines in the city. The health wing of the MCA would start functioning at this centre soon, Mayor Karmajit Singh Rintu said.
The MCA has initiated dog sterilisation drive several times in the past few years but in the absence of proper infrastructure, the drive could not succeed.
Pilot project
The MCA had started a pilot project to sterilise 2,000 dogs in December 2018 and hired a private firm, which was supposed to do the job for Rs 18 lakh. Due to poor infrastructure, the MC could sterilise only 1,451 dogs in two years.
Meanwhile, the MC General House sanctioned Rs 45 lakh on December 31, 2020, to sterilise 5,000 more dogs. Observing the requirement of a full-fledged sterilisation center, the MC started constructing an Animal Birth Control Centre at Gumanpura. The ongoing sterilisation project was hanging fire due to inadequate infrastructure.
The Mayor said the construction of the Animal Birth Control Center had been completed. “It has a capacity to sterilise 150 dogs weekly. The health wing of the MC will prepare a schedule to catch and sterilise dogs. The project would be implemented in a systematic way,” he maintained.
At present, there are over 25,000 stray dogs in the city and the problem has taken alarming proportions. However, the poor infrastructure was only one of the main reasons for the MC projects failing as there were some other hurdles too. Animal activists and dog lovers often raised their voice against the MC’s attitude towards stray dogs. They also demanded a clean and hygienic environment for dog sterilisation to avoid mortality among sterilised canine.