Realising that with the limited manpower and number of institutions, it will not be possible to meet the target of sterilising 90,000 stray dogs in three years, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to appoint a few more NGOs to take up the task and meet the target within the deadline.
According to the civic body, the number of stray dogs in the city has increased to more than 250,000 of which 90,000 were sterilised in the last five years. Out of the remaining 1.60 lakh, BMC has targeted sterilising 98000 dogs in the next three years.
“Considering the dog population in Mumbai, every year about 32,000-34,000 dogs need to be sterilised. However in 2019, only 18,912 dogs were sterilised which is far less,” said the civic official.
Under the Animal Birth Control Programme, stray dog sterilisation is being executed by BMC staff and NGOs. Now the new contractor has been given a target of catching 32000 to 34,000 dogs. In 1994, the BMC had for the first time initiated the dog sterilisation project.
To achieve this goal, the municipality had appointed seven NGOs. But their term expired on March 30, 2020. The corporation then decided to give an extension to these seven organizations till 2023.However, the rate of sterilization will be increased as demanded by these organisations.
The civic body now is looking at increasing the number of organisations for the job.
"We have to meet the target by 2023, however, we have realised that the available manpower is not sufficient, hence a proposal to for the same has been tabled. The tender process will be soon implemented for the same and the work of sterilization of stray dogs will be expedited by appointing more organisations soon," said a civic official said.
