Bhopal, February 17 – The Madhya Pradesh Assembly witnessed a lively debate on the issue of stray dogs in the state capital, Bhopal, on the second day of the ongoing budget session on Tuesday.
Congress MLA Atif Aqeel raised the issue during the motion for adjournment, stating that the increasing number of stray dogs and dog-bites in Bhopal had become a serious concern.
Aqeel, a first-time MLA from the Bhopal North constituency, alleged that the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) had spent Rs 2 crore on sterilization and vaccination, but the number of stray dogs in the city continues to increase.
The Congress MLA told the House that 40 to 50 stray dog bites are reported daily in the city, and most of the victims are children and senior citizens.
"The Bhopal Municipal Corporation is catching, sterilizing, and vaccinating numerous dogs daily, but the problem of stray dogs shows no signs of abating. This issue is no longer just a matter of fear or inconvenience, but has become a serious public health and administrative failure," said Congress MLA Atif Aqeel.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Minister, Kailash Vijayvargiya, while responding to a question from Congress leader Atif Aqeel, said that a dog squad has been formed in the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, which is responsible for immediate action upon receiving information.
Minister Vijayvargiya told the House that 26,900 dogs have been vaccinated in the current financial year and 5,023 rabies vaccines are available.
He also denied any deaths due to dog bites in Bhopal.
"Dogs become agitated when they are hungry and do not receive food. It has been our tradition to give the first roti to the cow and the last roti to the dog, and some flour is also kept for the ants," said Minister Vijayvargiya.
During the discussion in the state Assembly, leaders from the Congress and BJP were also seen taking potshots at each other, which filled the House with laughter and a healthy atmosphere.
Congress MLA Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat said that Kailash Vijayvargiya is the Minister of dogs, but he wasn't paying much attention to this issue.
BJP MLA Umakant Sharma said: "This is the first time I heard that dogs are terrorists."
During the discussion on the motion for adjournment in the House, former Assembly Speaker Sitasaran Sharma and BJP MLA Shalendra Kumar Jain also raised the issue of the shortage of anti-rabies injections and said that their adequate availability should be ensured.
Later, Congress MLA and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly, Umang Singhar, targeted the BJP, alleging that the state government wasn't ready to debate on contaminated drinking water that killed several people, but was instead debating over dogs.
"The Madhya Pradesh government agreed to debate on the dog menace issue, but not on water contamination, which is a more serious subject. The Congress wants a detailed discussion on contaminated water that killed at least 35 people in Indore's Bhagirathpura area. This shows the seriousness of the BJP-led state government," said LoP Singhar.