Stray dog menace: Arvind Kumar asks GHMC officials to identify high-risk areas, create app for pet dogs

HYDERABAD: Arvind Kumar, Special Chief Secretary to Telangana Government has asked officials to focus their efforts on combating the stray dog menace within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.

He asked officials to establish a mobile app to identify the number of pet dogs in the city and the surrounding municipalities during a high-level meeting on Wednesday at the MA& UD Office with GHMC Zonal Commissioners and Veterinary officers.

Pet owners who register for the app would receive an identity card. Arvind Kumar said that steps should be taken to submit complaints about this via My GHMC App No. 040- 21111111.

The number of stray dogs in the GHMC area has decreased from eight lakh fifty thousand in 2011 to five lakh fifty thousand as a result of earlier sterilisation procedures, according to GHMC officials.

Arvind Kumar asked that Animal Birth Control (ABC) sterilisation procedures be carried out immediately, as well as the installation of water points (water storage facilities) in such localities and colonies.

Municipal officials were also asked to prohibit hotels, restaurants, function halls, chicken centres, and mutton centres within the GHMC limits from dumping garbage on the streets. It was instructed to take immediate precautionary measures due to the anticipated increase in the number of stray dogs in the city.

Arvind Kumar proposed that awareness programmes be held for kids in both public and private schools in the city. He says that schoolchildren are unaware of the risks of pet dogs. He said that controlling it requires adequate awareness among students. Officials were also asked to prepare brochures and billboards about the issue.

The officials were encouraged to conduct control measures with the assistance of Slum Development Federations, Town Development Federations, and Resident Colony Welfare Associations within the city and neighbouring municipalities.

He said that the areas where the majority of the instances were registered should be located and prompt action taken. The authorities have been asked to deploy veterinary teams in particular locations and take appropriate measures, as well as to pay special attention to the closed transportation area.

MA&UD Secretary Sudarshan Reddy, GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar, Municipal Administration Director Satyanarayana, GHMC Zonal Commissioners, and Veterinary officers participated in the high level meeting.