HYDERABAD: In the already shrinking lung spaces of the city, the morning joggers and walkers are now braving another issue, that of stray dogs. Every morning as walkers get out before the break of dawn, it is a common sight to see packs of dogs rummaging through previous night’s waste even as GHMC sanitation workers clean the places. However, making the situation worse are the garbage dumping points flanked near these walking tracks.
The Tuesday morning incident -- in which three people were mauled by dogs -- at Lake View Park near Prasads Imax also stemmed from the fact that two large garbage cans were placed right at the entrance of the park attracting numerous dogs to rummage through the waste.
“The garbage can which takes the waste from at least 100 houses here is placed right at the entrance of the park and colony. So during morning hours when people throw wastes and go, the dogs become very aggressive and fight for the garbage,” said Raju Yadava, a resident. These pack of dogs tend to terrorise walkers all the way from Saifabad traffic police station to Prasads Imax parking station.
GHMC to blame
A similar problem is faced on a much larger magnitude at the Indira Park where one of the largest walking associations with 5,000 members spend their mornings and evenings. Though the park is enclosed, the adjoining garbage transfer station of Lower Tank Bund brings in tremendous amount of garbage inside.
“The GHMC staff knowingly are using the park premises to dump the rotten waste. Every day hundreds of dogs come to eat the food waste and terrorise the walkers,” said Dr Sudhakar Yadav, President of Indira
Park Walkers Association.
The association members have a dog bite or case of dog scare every other day and the members also complained to the GHMC veterinary department, who have failed to capture the dogs.
Meanwhile, activists assert that the fault lies entirely with GHMC officials who have failed to implement the door to door collection of garbage right in the heart of the city.
Pravallika Nigam of Compassionate Society for Animals, meanwhile, said: “Not all dogs are aggressive, it is the situation that makes them bite or scratch. These garbage cans must be placed near a dead-end where not many humans walk past.”
How GHMC is failing to sanitise danger zones
Is GHMC veterinary department merely a dog menace helpline? Activists allege that the Animal Birth Control is being done in the GHMC limits solely on complaint basis. Hence failure in sanitising the danger zones scientifically. According to officials from the veterinary wing of GHMC, each of the five zones receive anywhere between 70 to 80 complaints of dog menace on a daily basis, forcing the vans to ply to the different areas.
“When we catch a dog we bring it to the animal care centre and vaccinate and sterilise it,” said one official. At the Institute of Preventive Medicine, at least 20 to 30 dog bite cases are recorded in a day. “We are under immense pressure to cater to the 70 to 80 odd complaints we get on a daily basis. However, people need to understand that dogs are part of the urban ecosystem as there would be garbage and there would be animal-friendly people who feed them, leading to conflict. All dogs we catch we sterilize, vaccinate them and release them back,” said an official from Veterinary Department of GHMC. However, activists say the approach is extremely wrong. “In GHMC’s combing activities it is mostly the friendly dogs that get taken away.
Under pressure from public they displace the dog from there post operations which opens up the area for aggressive dogs to come in and be in conflict with the humans,” explained Priyanaka N, a dog behaviourist. Further adding to the problem is the fact that there is a steady rise in canine population in the various townships and large residential complexes in the outskirts. “Nowhere in Telangana do we have Animal Birth Control except big municipalities of GHMC and Warangal, even in areas like Ghatkesar, parts of LB Nagar, Manikonda, Neknampur dogs are not sterilized by the government worsening the issue. It is as if knowingly the governments are endangering lives of people because dogs can’t themselves practice birth control,” said Pravallika, an animal activist.