The Noida authority’s health department on Friday issued fresh directives to apartment owners’ associations and residents’ welfare associations to designate dog feeding points away from roads and public spaces, as part to tackle stray dog menace.
The move comes on the directions of the Supreme Court in tackling the stray dog menace in the city and rising complaints about dog bites.
The city houses around 30,000 stray dogs, with four new small hospitals and one big facility in sector 94, which has been operational for over 30 years,” said SP Singh, general manager, health department.
The authority will also create more animal hospitals to tackle the stray dog issue, added Singh.
The authority directed the associations to help implement animal birth control rules-2023, make dog feeding points and help in sterilisation drives.
Noida is spread across 20,000 hectares area, with 165 well planned sectors and 81 villages. There are at least 80 residential sectors of 165, where the citizens’ bodies have created ‘dog feeding points’, said officials.
“We made requests to the AOAs, RWAs and other citizen groups to create feeding points within their societies to ensure dogs stay in designated areas. We will again establish the communication to further improve the facilities as per the rules,” said a Noida authority official.
The authority’s health department said that they will further create more facilities for stray dogs. Their teams will pick up the stray animal, sterilise it, vaccinate, deworm and then release the same into their habitat as per the rules.
“However if the stray dog is infected with rabies or aggressive then we will not release it into the streets, where they live. We will keep infected and aggressive dogs in separate shelters for sterilisation and immunisation. We have adequate facilities at our animal hospital to handle such infected and aggressive stray dogs to make sure the general public is not harmed,” said the same official.
Noida authority currently sterilises and vaccinates 750 stray dogs in a month, at a cost of ₹1,600 per dog. They then release them back into the streets, if not infected, injured or found aggressive, said officials.
The authority has recently built shelters in Sectors 34 and 135 to house stray dogs each in nearby residential areas, each spread across 2,000 square metres and equipped with proper accommodation and operation theatre. It currently houses 300 aggressive stray dogs. Plans to construct two more shelters in Sectors 50 and 93B were dropped due to fund crunch.
Authorities are also developing a 4-acre facility for a dog shelter and hospital. This expansion follows the overcapacity of an older animal shelter in Sector 94, spread over 10 acres, which currently houses around 750 stray dogs.
Despite the authority’s claim, animal activists and residents say more needs to be done.
Animal activist Dr Sanjay Mahapatra, who runs an animal hospital for free for stray dogs in Noida’s sector 54, said that the facilities are not adequate. “The state government-run 10 animal hospitals are failing to meet the challenges. We have written to the officials but nothing has happened. The authority must invest in developing more facilities to address the conflict,” said Mahapatra.
Residents echoed the same sentiments and said that the authority’s health department is not proactively working to address the issue. Madhvi Singh, a resident of Capetown society in sector 74 said the health department does not respond promptly to dog bite cases in their society. “The Noida authority needs to streamline the health department system, create a team of professionals and experts to address the stray dog menace, said Singh.
Following the top court order, some activists have decided to start camps to sterilise stray dogs in the city. Sakha Ek Pehel and Yuva Kranti Sena have launched a vaccination and sterilization drive, especially at sensitive zones where dog bite incidents are frequent.
“Infosys has also assured us its support and will provide technical and managerial assistance. Our resolve is to put an end to false rumors and disputes in society. At present, mistrust is growing between the administration and the public on the issue of stray dogs,” said Avinash Singh, president of Yuva Kranti Sena, a social group of city’s youth.
On Friday, the volunteers held a meeting with Satnarayan Goyal, President of Sector-55 RWA, from where the campaign will be formally launched on Saturday.
Vibha Chugh, President of Sakha Ek Pehel, said, “The permanent solution to this stray dog issue lies only in vaccination and sterilization. If these voiceless dogs are provided food on time, such situations will not arise. The authority too must sincerely fulfill its responsibilities.”