New Delhi, Jun 24 (PTI) Former union minister Vijay Goel on Saturday suggested the Delhi government to utilise the existing 70 veterinary hospitals in the city instead of opening a new dog sterilisation centre cum hospital.
Goel’s recommendation came a day after the Raj Niwas said Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has approved a land allotment for setting up a dog sterilisation centre cum veterinary hospital and dispensary in southwest Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area.
In light of the growing incidents of dog bites and the rising menace of stray dogs in the city, the LG Secretariat has said that the land being allotted by DDA to the MCD should be on the condition that it provides free services for the sterilisation of stray dogs.
Addressing a press conference at his house here, Goel thanked the Delhi LG for allotting the land but said that this effort falls short of addressing the “horrendous problem of stray dogs” here.
In a statement, Goel highlighted that the current dog population control measures were inefficient.
“Despite the municipal corporation offering a thousand rupees for each dog sterilisation, dogs are not being sterilised. Who would now be responsible for capturing and treating these stray dogs for free at the proposed centre?” Goel asked.
The former minister, who has been running a campaign against the stray dog menace in the city, also asked about the timeline of the land allocation and the organisation responsible for setting up the centre.
According to Raj Niwas, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will allot a plot of land measuring 483 square metres to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for developing the facility in public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
Pointing out that there is a “lack of clarity” on the project’s timeline, Goel said thousands of stray dogs would continue roaming the streets until the centre is built.
He added that the proposed centre would serve as an exclusive hospital for expensive pet dogs, focusing solely on the treatment and care of the pets of affluent individuals, therefore generating more income from pet owners and sidelining the stray dog menace, the statement said.
“It would have been better if the Delhi government utilised the existing 70 animal hospitals to address the issue of dog population control and use them for the sterilisation of dogs,” the BJP leader said.
“These hospitals are already established, but remain unoccupied, providing ample space for the sterilisation of dogs,” he added.
The government could have instead sought the LG’s assistance for sterilising stray dogs, Goel added in his statement.
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