Pet ban to be reversed?

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will re-consider its plan to ban all pets from the city’s iconic Marine Drive promenade after a few residents assured the civic body that they will keep the area clean by employing workers.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will re-consider its plan to ban all pets from the city’s iconic Marine Drive promenade after a few residents assured the civic body that they will keep the area clean by employing workers.

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A group of dog owners from the Marine Drive vicinity met civic authorities on Wednesday. They suggested that they would employ two–three people to clean the promenade and would pay them from their own pockets.

“We discussed the matter with Additional Municipal Commissioner R.A.Rajeev and assured him that we would be hiring people to clean dog poop of pets and of stray dogs,” said Rajiv Deora a resident of Kemps Corner, who walks his dog on the Marine Drive.

The civic body had issued a public notice in August warning pet owners from the Marine Drive locality to ensure that the 4-
km promenade was not dirtied by dogs being taken for a walk by their owners.

The BMC had given pet owners a month’s notice, after which pets would be banned on the promenade.

“If they can keep the area clean, then we will reconsider our plan to ban pets,” Rajeev added.

Deora said an association of dog owners in south Mumbai will be formed to ensure that the vicinity is kept clean.

The Cleanliness and Sanitation Bylaws brought into effect in 2006 don’t allow animal poop to be thrown into public dustbins and pet owners can be fined Rs 500 for not picking up after their animals.

The Marine Drive stretch was recently given a Rs 26-crore makeover by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.