The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun MCD) is all set to set up another stray cattle shelter in the city. According to the information given by the officials, the proposal is under process and it is now awaiting approval. “Once it is sanctioned, further steps would be taken up accordingly,” said a civic body officer.
Currently, the city has only one stray cattle shelter-‘Kanji House’-located at Kedarpuram which has a very limited capacity. The place is crammed often as the number of cattle being sheltered there is large.
As per the information, the project of another stray cattle shelter would cost around Rs 8 lakh which would be set up on the land under MCD.
Adding more information to the matter, senior veterinary officer Dr Vivekanand Sati said, “As 40 more wards are now under MCD, the number of the abandoned cattle is rising up, compounding further the problem. We have sent a proposal which is now under process. As soon as it is approved, the work to set up the stray cattle shelter would start. Once completed, it would ease our problem a great deal.”
When asked about the sterilisation of stray dogs, Sati said, “Roughly, the population of stray dogs in the city is 25,000. Out of them, 16,000 have been operated upon. We are now down with staff crunch. There is a need of around 250 people to operate properly in the 60 wards and 40 wards will be added for better work. We currently have 35 staffers which is inadequate. We need more staff for better working.”
Municipal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said, “We are well aware of the need of another stray cattle shelter especially after 40 wards are added in the civic body. The official spadework would be completed very soon.”