Nahida Hassan
Srinagar
With more than one lakh stray dogs marauding in Srinagar city alone the canine-human conflict is a routine in the summer capital. Over 5000 children, mostly in the age group of 3-15 years have been the victims of canine terror so far.
Official data reveals 16,000 cases of dog bites have been recorded in the summer capital during last three years.
Officials at the SMC said that the summer capital has more canines than any other place primarily due to the energy rich waste which they get to eat here compared to any other metro city.
According to Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) report, around 450 metric tons of garbage is being generated daily from the city which includes exclusive non vegetarian waste of around 200 metric tons produced from poultry outlets, households, hotels and restaurants which is consumed by stray dogs.
While 493 dog bite cases were recorded at the Anti-Rabbies Clinic between December 20, 2016 to January 20, 2017, 388 of these cases were from the summer capital, the data reveals.
“The per month cases at this clinic had gone down before January but very recently the same clinic has been receiving anywhere between 20-25 dog bite cases every day and sometimes even more. Since January, 2017 till now 694 cases of dog bites have been registered at this clinic,” an official said.
The data discloses that during 2012 and 2013, total number of dog bite cases registered was 7000. However the number had declined in 2013-14 to 6000. It continued to reduce till 2014-15. During this period it was 4900.
But in the year 2015-16, the figure again raised and the number of dog bite registered cases was above 5000, reveals the data.
