Telangana HC pulls up municipal body over killing of boy by stray dogs

Hyderabad, Feb 23 (IANS) The Telangana High Court on Thursday pulled up Hyderabad's municipal body over the gruesome death of a four-year-old boy who was mauled to death by stray dogs on Sunday.

Taking cognisance of the media report on the incident, the court initiated suo moto Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan blamed negligence by the Greater Hyderabad of Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for the boy's death and asked it what steps are being taken to curtail incidents of stray dog attacks.

The GHMC has also been asked to explain what steps it would take to ensure that such an incident is not repeated.

Expressing condolences over the death of the boy, the court said it would look into the matter of compensation for his family.

The court included the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary of the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department, GHMC Commissioner, GHMC Deputy Commissioner (Amberpet), GHMC Veterinary Officer, Hyderabad District Collector and Member Secretary of Telangana State Legal Services Authority as respondents in the case and asked them to file the counter.

It adjourned the hearing to March 16.

Meanwhile, Animal Husbandry Minister T. Srinivas Yadav aling with Home Minister Mahmood Ali held a meeting with officials on the steps to check stray dog menace.

After the meeting, Yadav told reporters the municipal authorities have been directed to undertake a month-long special drive to sterilise stray dogs.

The Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development directed all the Municipal Commissioners to enhance the current capacity of conducting animal birth control including rationalisation centre wise, increasing the number of dog catching teams and vehicles in order to attend the dog complaints effectively and to achieve 100 per cent sterilisation of street dogs.

The Municipal Commissioners have also been asked to assess and identify high density stray dog areas and the areas where more number of dog bite incidents are reported by involving resident welfare associations, slum level federations and town level federations to take immediate necessary action in preventing further dog bites.

The officials have been told to take stringent action against hotels, restaurants, function halls, non-vegetarian shops, hostels and hostels and other establishments that dispose of garbage on streets as this attracts stray dogs.

They were also asked to arrange adequate number of water bowls in suitable locations, preferably away from public movement areas, to alleviate the aggression of street dogs during the summer season.

The municipal officials were directed to install billboards/hoardings to highlight appropriate behaviour towards street dogs, including dos and don'ts.