LG Sandhu lays foundation stone for 1,500-dog Dwarka shelter
Lt Governor (L-G) Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for a dog shelter with a capacity of around 1,500 stray dogs was laid in Delhi's Dwarka.
Spread over around 6,050 square metres in Dwarka Sector 29, the shelter will be developed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) with corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds from GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, a private multinational conglomerate. Officials said construction work will begin shortly and is expected to be completed by November this year. BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Kailash Gehlot, Mayor Pravesh Wahi and other senior officials were also present.
The L-G said the shelter would provide facilities for the care and rehabilitation of stray dogs and asked the civic body to involve animal welfare organisations, veterinarians, dog lovers and subject experts so that the project is developed in a “sustainable and compassionate manner”. He also visited Delhi's only cremation centre for small animals and reviewed its functioning.
Calling the project “an example of a public-private partnership”, the L-G said the LG said, “This is backed by GMR and MCD won’t have to spend a single penny,” noting that the shelter is being developed at zero cost to the MCD through CSR support extended by the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation.
A senior MCD official had earlier said the Dwarka shelter is among several projects being undertaken to strengthen the city's stray dog management infrastructure.
“A five-acre MCD-owned plot at Mukundpur is under consideration for developing an integrated Animal Birth Control (ABC) centre, dog shelter and dog crematorium in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India and the Supreme Court's directions,” the official had said.
