Stray dogs prowling in the colonies on the outskirts are causing a lot of trouble.
Though the problem has seen a decline this year compared to last year, people in Ajith Singh Nagar, Payakapuram and other areas continue to complain against it, particularly in the night. Areas like Andhra Prabha Colony and Nandamuri Nagar are the most affected.
The presence of packs of dogs in the evenings and night has forced children to stay indoors and become a scare to the motorists, locals say. In the last two months, 68 complaints of dog menace were registered with the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s grievance cell and a majority of them had been resolved.
Special campaign
Most of the complaints were from Krishnalanka, Moghalrajpuram, Payakapuram and other densely populated areas, officials say.
When contacted Veterinary Assistant Surgeon of the Corporation Dr. Sridhar admitted that there were more complaints from the colonies around Ajith Singh Nagar. “Responding to the complaints, we ran a special campaign in the past one week and caught 60 stray dogs,” Dr. Sridhar said.
“We are also going to conduct a special drive to catch strays on the hilly areas soon. The number of complaints came down drastically this year. Last year in summer, we received more than 50 complaints a day. Now the number is fewer than 10 per day.”
The civic body has pressed six teams of dog catchers in two shifts into service.
