No end to stray dog menace in Srinagar
Srinagar, Sep 11: With Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) sitting on stray dog menace, the growing population of canines is posing risk to people in the summer capital.
Recently, panic gripped the Rainawari area of Downtown after several people were attacked and injured by a pack of stray dogs. The fresh incident has once again brought the spotlight on the rising stray dog menace in the summer capital.
Chaos unfolded when a stray dog entered a medical shop at Rainawari and bit a compounder. A video of the incident, widely circulated on social media, showed locals protesting in anger and recounting how several others had also been bitten in the same locality.
The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) dog-catching squad later arrived at the spot and managed to capture the dog amid growing public outrage. Residents said that the sudden attacks triggered panic in the area, with shopkeepers rushing indoors.
“The situation has gone out of control. Stray dogs are roaming freely and attacking people without fear. We are living under constant threat. This is not the first incident, only today other two persons were attacked in the same vicinity,” said one of the locals protesting at Rainawari.
The latest attack comes close on the heels of several incidents reported across the city in recent weeks. Just few weeks ago, a youth, Arhan Bilal of Nowpora Safakadal, was seriously injured after being mauled by a pack of dogs in a narrow lane. “It’s like living under siege. We have complained to the authorities repeatedly, but nothing changes,” said a local from Downtown.
In another case last month, a middle-aged man at Bemina suffered critical injuries after his motorcycle skidded when stray dogs chased him. Similar concerns have been raised in uptown areas where commuters, joggers and schoolchildren say they are forced to change their daily routines out of fear. “Walking home after dark feels like stepping into danger. They don’t just bark, they chase and bite,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, a local.
Residents across Srinagar attribute the surge in dog numbers to unattended garbage and open dustbins, which serve as permanent breeding grounds. They say dimly lit streets add to the danger, especially during evening hours.
While the SMC maintains that it is operating sterilisation centres at Tengpora and Shuhama, locals allege that these facilities remain mostly shut and sterilisation drives are too slow to curb the growing canine population.
An SMC official, however, said that efforts are being scaled up. “We are accelerating the sterilisation programme to cover a larger number of dogs in the coming months,” the official said.
