City to get three stray dog shelters in six months; feeding to be restricted to designated zones

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Friday informed the Assembly that Mumbai will get three dedicated shelters for stray dogs within the next six months, while reiterating that feeding of strays outside designated feeding zones will not be permitted in line with the Supreme Court’s directions

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Friday informed the Assembly that Mumbai will get three dedicated shelters for stray dogs within the next six months, while reiterating that feeding of strays outside designated feeding zones will not be permitted in line with the Supreme Court’s directions.

Replying to questions on stray dog population, sterilisation and vaccination during Question Hour, industries minister Uday Samant, who also handles the urban development department’s legislative business, said Mumbai accounts for nearly 94,000 of Maharashtra’s estimated 1.48 million stray dogs.

Samant said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has identified three plots for the shelters in Malad, Mahul and Mulund. The Malad and Mahul shelters will each be built on 3,000 sq m plots, while the Mulund facility will come up on an 8,411 sq m plot. The Revenue Department will facilitate the transfer of the land, he said.

However, NCP MLA Sana Malik objected to the proposed Mahul site, stating that the identified land had already been reserved for a hospital. She argued that healthcare infrastructure should take precedence in the heavily polluted locality. Samant assured the House that an alternative plot would be identified for the shelter.

Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel demanded that the BMC and other municipal corporations constitute dedicated committees to address stray dog-related issues. Samant said civic bodies would be directed to set up such panels.

MLAs Amin Patel, Sneha Dubey and Arjun Khotkar also sought strict enforcement of the Supreme Court’s directives on stray dogs.

Samant told the House that the apex court’s directions on sterilisation, shelter homes and designated feeding centres were being implemented “in letter and spirit”. He said municipal corporations had been instructed to ensure full compliance and reiterated that NGOs and animal activists would be allowed to feed stray dogs only at designated feeding centres.

“The safety of human lives will be given priority while implementing these directives,” Samant said.