Despite efforts to make Pimpri-Chinchwad a smart city, the issue of stray dogs remains persistent, with civilians frequently being bitten. The local authority is struggling to sterilize 25% (around 17,500) of the city's 70,000 stray dogs.
Civilians, particularly children, are at risk of being bitten by stray dogs while traversing deserted areas at night. Dog bites have resulted in injuries to approximately 10,000 individuals, according to medical records.
The sterilisation surgery department at Nehru Nagar conducts 15 sterilisation surgeries on dogs every day, with 85 per cent of them being female dogs. However, due to limited manpower and facilities, the sterilisation rate is low. It is estimated that only 75 per cent of the city's dogs have been sterilised, and urgent action is needed to sterilise the remaining 17,500 dogs to prevent the issue from escalating.
The civic body plans to increase the number of sterilisation surgeries by introducing new cages, resulting in 28 to 30 surgeries per day and over 10,000 annually. Priority is given to sterilising female dogs, with 90% of surgeries performed on them. The goal is to perform 50 vasectomies per day, which would require 100 more cages. Officials have announced plans to build these additional cages in the next six months to control the number of stray dogs in the city.