Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The ever-increasing canine population in the city that has reached approximately 3 lakh which is roughly 10 per cent of the city population (32 lakh) is proving to be a major problem for the administrators.
Every month, an average of 3,600 people, i.e. 120 people every day or 5 people every hour are being attacked by the strays.
The Indore Municipal Corporation on Tuesday decided to launch a month-long drive during which dogs would be fed an adequate amount of food and their behaviour would be monitored. Initially, for this drive an area of the city would be earmarked.
Municipal commissioner Harshika Singh chaired a meeting at the corporation headquarters regarding dog bites.
IMC health officer Dr Uttam Yadav said that the dogs that are fed will be monitored to see what behavioural changes are seen in dogs after they are fed regularly. The behaviour of dogs in that area will be monitored so that it can be known whether the dogs' behaviour changes due to hunger or not.
“There are three lakh dogs in the city. Two lakh have been sterilised and daily 30-40 dogs are being sterilised on an average,” said Dr Yadav.
The corporation will identify areas in the city where there is a large dog population. In these areas, with the help of NGOs and local people, a dedicated area will be selected where chapattis and other eatables would be provided to the dogs on a daily basis. After this incidences of dog bites in the area would be monitored to know what effect the feeding has on the number of such incidents.
There has been a continuous increase in the number of dog bite cases over the years.
According to the data from Hukum Chand Poly Clinic (Lal Hospital), 44,016 people were bitten by dogs in 2023. In 2022 this number was 40,249, whereas 6 years ago i.e. in the year 2016 this figure was 20,455.
Helpline numbers issued by Municipal Health Department
Control room
8889855202
9329555202
Sagar
8770915741
Rishi Gosar
7974573094
Dr Hemant
9713697796
