BENGALURU: After a year-long wait, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will finally issue work orders for Animal Birth Control (ABC) Centres in six of the eight zones from October 5.
The tenders were called on December 2018, but the process was delayed by almost a year. Some BBMP officials attributed this delay to the model code of conduct put in force for the national and state elections. Another reason was the lack of interested contractors.
Randeep D, Special Commissioner, Solid Waste Management (SWM), told TNIE, “The delay was because some agencies did not want to pay the performance guarantee. The Animal Birth Control is a unique programme and there is no profit in it and since most of the animal welfare groups have got the contracts, we have to exempt the performance guarantee. We need to get permission from the BBMP Commissioner for this exemption by October 4.”
Unfortunately, BBMP did not get any bidder in Bommanahalli and Yelahanka zones.
On Tuesday, urban activist Priya Chetty Rajagopal asked the BBMP chief why there was such a delay in implementing the birth control programme. “I got a positive reply from the commissioner that all the files for the programme have been cleared. And Randeep said the work orders will be issued soon.”
Harini Raghavan, Founder of Citizens for Animal Birth Control Programme, said, “The dogs are multiplying in number and we need to start this programme soon. We are hopeful that the survey will come up with a scientific data and I hope BBMP brings in a systematic audit to ensure the programme is carried out effectively.”
This time, the tender for the programme has strict rules mentioned in it. Earlier, some veterinarians were booked for criminal negligence due to failed sterilisation and many rescuers often found stray dogs left on the road with open or poorly operated wounds. There were also allegations that the dogs were not being dropped back to their territories after the procedure. These problems are likely to be addressed this time around.