Chandigarh admn to take final call on dog bite compensations today

The committee has received 145 applications from victims, including two monkey bite cases and four other accident cases in Chandigarh

Despite much deliberation at a meeting for finalising the compensation for victims of incidents/accidents caused by stray animals on Thursday, the committee could not reach a definitive decision and has sought additional inputs from the UT administration.

In November last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court had directed that the Chandigarh administration will be primarily responsible for paying compensation to victims of dog bites, adding that the minimum financial assistance would be ₹10,000 per tooth mark. (HT Photo)

Held under the chairmanship of deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, the committee will now meet again on Friday to decide the compensation.

The committee has received 145 applications from victims, including two monkey bite cases and four other accident cases.

A senior officer who was part of the meeting said, “We lack a certain procedural clarification from UT administration and the decision will be taken on Friday. Various other things, like requirement of medical reports and police daily diary report (DDR), also need to be decided. Apart from this, a case pertaining to the issue is also scheduled for hearing in the high court on September 23.”

In November last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court had directed that the governments of Punjab and Haryana, and the Chandigarh administration will be primarily responsible for paying compensation to victims of dog bites, adding that the minimum financial assistance would be ₹10,000 per tooth mark.

Additionally, in cases where flesh is pulled out from the skin up to 0.2cm, ₹10,000 will be given, per incident. UT had formed a committee in this regard on July 2, and the terms and conditions for victims’ applications were established in a corresponding notification.