2nd sterilisation centre to come up in Gzb soon
The land for the city’s biggest ABC centre has been already identified. It is located at Siddharth Vihar near the NH-9 and will have a capacity for sterilising around 75 stray dogs on a daily basis.
DR ANUJ SINGH, veterinary officer, Ghaziabad municipal corporation
GHAZIABAD: The officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation on Friday said that they have identified a two-acre land at Siddharth Vihar, where a centre for animal birth-control (ABC) will come up by next year. They added that the new centre will be much bigger than the existing facility for sterilisation of stray dogs and will cater to about 70-75 sterilisations on a daily basis.
The city has been under the scanner for the ever-growing population of stray dogs and daily cases of dog bites. According to officials of the MMG Hospital, they receive an average of about 150 dog bite cases per day from the entire district.
The city, at present, has an ABC centre in operation near Nandgram, which according to officials can cater to only 15 to 20 sterilisation procedures on a daily basis.
Ghaziabad city has 100 residential wards divided in five corporation zones of Vijay Nagar, Vasundhara, Mohan Nagar, City and Kavi Nagar.
“The land for the city’s biggest ABC centre has been identified. It is located at Siddharth Vihar near the National Highway (NH-9) and will have a capacity for sterilisation of about 75 stray dogs per day. We may scale it even further to about 100 sterilisations per day. The project requires funds of ₹4.9 crore for which we have submitted a detailed project report to the Uttar Pradesh administration for approval of funds,” said Dr Anuj Singh, corporation’s veterinary and social welfare officer.
In 2020, the city had an estimated population of 48,000 stray dogs under the municipal limits, while about 18,000 have been sterilised so far.
“It is likely that the project will commence by early next year. At present, we have two mobile vans which pick up stray dogs from their locations and bring them to the ABC centre at Nandgram. Once the new project gets initiated, more resources will be added. The ABC centre at Siddharth Vihar will cater to all the five zones in the city,” Dr Singh added.
Animal activists in the city said that the sterilisation procedure for stray dogs is lagging behind when compared to their rising population.
“While keeping in mind the growing population of stray dogs, there is a need for at least one ABC centre in each of the five zones under the municipal limits. Stray dogs need to be sterilised in order to control their population as well as reduce their aggressive behaviour. The new project should be expedited and such centres should also open in other zones as well,” said Ruchin Mehra, a Ghaziabad-based animal activist and a lawyer.
The corporation officials said that land availability was a major issue and it hampered the setting up of the second sterilisation centre.