SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday called for a focused, coordinated and humane response to Srinagar’s growing stray dog menace, directing the concerned departments and Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to accord the issue top priority and deliver tangible results on the ground.
Chairing a review meeting on the issue, the Chief Minister said the stray dog menace had emerged as one of the foremost concerns for Srinagar residents, affecting their daily lives and sense of security across the city.
Omar said the progress made in Jammu in implementing the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme, particularly in sterilisation coverage, should be replicated in Kashmir.
“Within the same territory, we have success of having achieved around 80 per cent sterilisation in Jammu, while Srinagar has not been able to make comparable progress. If we have demonstrated that it can be done in Jammu, we should be able to replicate that success in Srinagar,” he said.
The Chief Minister sought a clear assessment of the requirement for veterinary surgeons, paravets, dog catchers and other support staff needed in Kashmir division. He assured full government support for providing the resources required to undertake the work on a sustained basis.
He directed the authorities to immediately engage the required staff and intensify action on the ground, including measures to ensure quick disposal of garbage dumps and food waste that provide a source of food for stray dogs.
Omar also called upon the SMC and Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) to ensure timely garbage disposal within municipal areas, observing that roadside waste piles were not only a public hazard but also contributed to the stray dog problem and gave an impression of poorly maintained and polluted urban spaces.
The Chief Minister directed the SMC to constitute a dedicated team to tackle the issue in “mission mode”, with emphasis on substantially increasing the number of trained dog catchers, scaling up sterilisation operations and strengthening the availability of veterinary doctors and trained personnel.
He stressed that the response must remain humane and strictly follow established procedures while effectively controlling the stray dog population and addressing public concerns.
Omar further called for greater coordination among the Housing and Urban Development Department, Health and Medical Education Department, SMC and other concerned agencies to ensure that the measures translate into measurable improvement on the ground.
He said the objective should be to establish a sustainable and effective mechanism to address the stray dog issue not only in Srinagar but across Jammu and Kashmir.
Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Dheeraj Gupta, Commissioner Secretary Housing and Urban Development Mandeep Kaur, Commissioner Secretary Health and Medical Education M Raju, Commissioner Secretary Education, Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu, Inspector General of Police Jammu Zone, Commissioners of SMC and JMC, and other senior officers attended the meeting.
Officers from Jammu participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
