BENGALURU: A day after a five-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of dogs on the city’s outskirts, BBMP mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun ordered for the eviction of stray dogs in BBMP Boys School in Austin Town campus.
When the mayor made a surprise visit to the school, following a complaint, she was shocked to see around 10 stray dogs in the school campus. The school administration, locals and BBMP officials said that the school’s deceased security guard’s wife was taking care of the dogs. They said that she housed the dogs for her safety.
Agitated by this, the mayor immediately asked the BBMP officials to vacate her and capture all the stray canines. The mayor also pulled up the BBMP officials to clear all garbage in and around the school premises. She was shocked to see garbage trucks parked inside the school. The school administration said that 30 children dropped out of school this year, due to the fear of being unsafe.
Mayor directed the officials to strictly follow the Animal Birth Control guidelines and vaccinate all the dogs. She directed all officials to ensure that no meat or garbage was strewn around and told all meat sellers to exercise caution.She also directed the officials to fence the school boundary and ensure that dogs do not enter the premises, that may lead to any untoward incident.
Reacting to rumours that she was attacked by stray canines when she visited the school campus, Gangambike clarified: “I was not attacked by any dog. I saw the dogs around. I have also asked the officials not to cull the dogs or put a petition in court. I want the dogs to be sterilised and cleanliness maintained, to prevent untoward incidents,” the mayor told The New Indian Express.
Gangambike visits dog attack victim
The mayor also visited the house of four-year-old Anukrupa in Neelasandra, who was attacked by stray dogs on Saturday. She inquired about her health and came forward to find her medical treatment, from the mayor’s funds.
BBMP incurred debts of D18K crore
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has incurred a debt of Rs 18,000 crore, said Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun on Wednesday. She was speaking to media persons after visiting the BBMP Austin Town Boys School. She said that the debts were high because of the wages to be paid to contract employees, which added up to Rs 706 crore, and the works undertaken, that take up a lot of capital. Explaining the financial condition of the civic body, S P Hemalatha, Tax and Finance Standing Committee, Chairman said that BBMP had a bank loan of Rs 700 crore and bills of Rs 3,000 crore to be cleared. Apart from this, the contractors needed to be paid and the civil works also needed to be paid for. There were bills pending from the last two years which needed to be cleared, she said. Hemalatha said that the proposal of transferring B Khata sites to A Khata was pending before the state government for clearance. If the government agrees, this will fetch the BBMP at least Rs 4,000 crore. Besides the BBMP officials have also been told to identify defaulters in all wards and seize illegal properties, which will also be auctioned to raise more money.