Delhi: Boy's death in stray dog attack puts focus on street safety

New Delhi: The fatal attack on a seven-year-old boy by a pack of dogs has turned the spotlight on safety of Delhi residents, many of whom are either living in fear or thinking of shifting residence, alleging lack of action by the municipal bodies to check the stray dog menace.

The attack on August 4, which took place in daylight in south Delhi's Jamia Nagar area, was so brutal that the boy died in a hospital within a few hours, sparking protests from local residents.

This incident also prompted the Delhi High Court to seek a report from South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on the steps taken by it to control the street dog menace.

Notwithstanding the municipal corporations' claim of sterilising thousands of dogs in the past three years, citizens allege that the civic bodies are "not doing enough".

"Every night when I return from office, dogs near my house chase me. I am not in favour of killing or attacking them, but MCD officials should immediately do something to curb the increasing dog population," said Asad Asharaf, a resident of Ghaffar Manzil area in Jamia Nagar.

Students of Jamia Millia Islamia also feel unsafe to step out of the campus, especially at night. "Many of the students in Jamia stay back on campus till late night to use the library. But it has become really difficult to step out of the campus because of stray dogs," Shiyas, a PhD scholar at the university, said.

It is not just Jamia Nagar, many other parts of Delhi, especially residential areas have similar tales to tell. "Number of street dogs are increasing near my residence causing a lot of problems. I have complained repeatedly to the authorities but there was no positive response," claimed Nitesh Jain, a resident of Andrews Ganj.

Rajeev Goel from Malavya Nagar alleged that he was bitten by dogs four months ago and had registered a complaint. But the civic officials did not even visit the area. Nishat Gupta, a resident of West Shalimar Bagh, says he even thought of "leaving his place at a point of time" because of the dog menace.

The SDMC, however, has termed the attack on the boy, as an "unusual case" and claimed that the corporation has carried out regular sterilisation drives in its area to keep dog bites and rabies in check.

"From April 2012 to March 2015, we have sterilised 47,140 streets dogs, which is nearly thrice the corresponding numbers for North and East Corporations. The individual figures are April 2012-March 2013: 13,393; April 2013-March 2014: 14,349; and April 2014-March 2015: 19,398," Veterinary Director, SDMC, RBS Tyagi said .

Incidentally, no dog census has taken place since 2009, and a senior NDMC official claimed that the one which took place six years ago, was "not an official one" but conducted by private agencies.