NEW DELHI: Rabies has killed as many as 37 people in the city over the last five years with all of them contracting the fatal disease after being bitten by stray dogs, according to Municipal Corporation of Delhi report, which was accessed by TNIE.
The report says that the maximum number of fatalities was reported in 2018 (15) followed by 2019 when 10 such deaths were recorded. The years 2020 and 2021 witnessed three deaths each while six deaths were reported last year, according to the report.
The MCD report also says that an estimated 1,14,951 bites from stray dogs were reported between 2018 and February this year. The highest number of such dog bites was reported in 2022, at 51,206 cases, followed by 2020 when the figure stood at 21,979.
Incidentally, 12,085 cases alone have been recorded in 2023 (till February). This comes to 6,042 dog bites on average every month, the highest since 2018. The officials at the MCD’s Veterinary Department have attributed the rise in dog bites to the authority’s failure to conduct effective sterilization drives.
It’s important to note that the civic body has failed to conduct a dog census exercise since 2012, as reported by this newspaper earlier. “Census is the first step for sterilisation. It’s difficult to accurately estimate the number of dogs in Delhi at present which makes it hard for us to check dog bite cases,” an official said.
“The exact number of dogs in an area can be ascertained only after a dog census is done and only then sterilisation of each dog is possible. Unless sterilisation is done properly, the cases of dog bites will only rise,” he added.
According to the guidelines of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), 80 percent of the dogs should be sterilised in each locality in Delhi, which helps in curbing the dog bite cases in the long run. “This target can only be achieved after a census which the MCD has not carried out in the last 11 years. So no one knows the exact number and everyone is. Working aimlessly,” the official added.
