The Telangana high court on Thursday initiated a suo motu public interest litigation over the gruesome death of a four-year-old boy in an attack by stray dogs in Hyderabad earlier this week, and pulled up the civic body over its alleged failure to keep a check on such incidents, according to people aware of the matter.
A division bench comprising chief justice Ujjal Bhuyan and justice N Tukaramji also directed the state government to consider payment of compensation to the family of the minor, who was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Amberpet area of Hyderabad on Sunday.
“Raising concerns over the attack, the bench sought to know what steps the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has been taking to prevent recurring of such incidents,” one of the persons cited above said.
The bench served notices to chief secretary of Telangana, principal secretary (municipal administration and urban development), GHMC, Hyderabad collector, GHMC deputy commissioner (Amberpet), GHMC veterinary officer and member secretary of Telangana legal services authority to file their counters and fixed March 16 as the next date of hearing, the person added.
Gory visuals of the incident, captured on closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, showed the boy, later identified as Pradeep, walking near an automobile service centre in Amberpet area on Sunday afternoon when he was surrounded and brutally attacked by three stray dogs. Police said the dogs pounced on him and pulled him from all sides, before dragging him to a corner of the road.
He and his younger sister had accompanied their father to the centre, where the father works as a watchman. No one was around in the area at the time of the incident since it was a Sunday. By the time his father and his colleagues arrived at the spot, he had suffered grievous injuries. He was rushed to a private hospital where he was declared dead.
Meanwhile, Telangana animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivasa Yadav directed GHMC authorities to step up Animal Birth Control (ABC) campaign and carry out a month-long special drive, with special focus on basthis and colonies, to sterilize stray dogs.
According to a government statement, the minister held a high-level meeting on the stray dog menace on Thursday and said measures are being taken to address the problem. The meeting was attended by home minister Mohd Mahmood Ali, mayor G Vijaya Laxmi and senior municipal officials.
Yadav instructed the officials to identify areas having a high population of stray dogs and shift them to shelters set up under the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority.
He pointed out that dogs gather more around chicken and mutton shops in view of the leftover raw meat dumped by shopkeepers, and said a special cleaning drive at these shops would be taken up from Friday and strict action would be initiated against erring shop owners.
The officials told the minister that GHMC has already been carrying out the ABC and an anti-rabies vaccine drive to sterilise and vaccinate street dogs. They said strict action would be initiated against illegal dumping of raw meat and food waste by meat shops and hotels, respectively.
They also proposed to provide drinking water facilities for street dogs.
