Cases of rabies and deaths caused by the same went up across the Capital in 2014, as per data collected by the municipal corporations.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Maharishi Valmiki Infectious Diseases Hospital collects data on the number of rabies patients admitted to Delhi hospitals, the number of deaths and the number of patients who left against medical advice. These include patients from neighbouring States, including Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, said North Corporation spokesperson Yogendra Singh Mann.
According to the Department of Veterinary Services, 87 cases were admitted to hospitals in 2014, up from 59 in 2013. A total of 20 people died and 67 left against medical advice in 2014, up from 12 fatalities and 47 patients who left in 2013.
The incidents of dog and animal bites reported at the North Corporation’s hospitals and polyclinics also went up last year, standing at 39,812 cases. In 2013, the number of dog and animal bite cases in North Delhi was 35,527.
South Delhi Municipal Corporation spokesperson Mukesh Yadav said the civic body had given 2,264 patients anti-rabies vaccination in 2014.
Meanwhile, the number of dogs sterilised by the North Corporation has decreased from 5,722 in 2013 to 5,590 in 2014. The three municipal corporations of Delhi have outsourced sterilisation of dogs to six NGOs.
“We have limited resources and our NGO partners are not cooperating fully. We are trying to increase our own facilities by setting up sterilisation centres,” said Mr. Mann.
The civic body has also floated a tender to invite more NGOs to offer sterilisation services. Officials said some responses have been received for the tender, the last date for which is April 15.
A 0.2-hectare veterinary hospital-cum-sterilisation centre is being planned in Rohini Sector 27. The land has been taken from the Delhi Development Authority and process of awarding the contract is on. The facility will aim to sterilise 6,000 to 7,000 stray dogs per year. Another sterilisation centre is being made in Timarpur. It will cater to 4,000 to 5,000 dogs annually.
Meanwhile, NGO Nyaya Bhoomi filed a public interest litigation in the High Court this week regarding increasing stray dog population. The petition states that the NGO had filed an RTI application regarding the number of dog bites from October to December 2013. The number of cases stood at 25,644. However, the petition added, the data was from 16 out of the 50 hospitals under the authorities.
The High Court has asked the municipal corporations to reply.
Published - April 12, 2015 12:00 am IST
