Bhopal, Feb 17 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Madhya Pradesh Assembly witnessed a healthy debate on dog menace in the state capital Bhopal on the second day of the ongoing Budget session on Tuesday.
The issue was raised by Congress MLA Atif Aqeel during the Attention Motion, saying that the increasing number of stray dogs in Bhopal and dog biting incidents have become a serious concern.
Aqeel, a first-time MLA from Bhopal North Assembly constituency, alleged that Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) spent Rs two crore on sterilisation and vaccination, but the number of street dogs continues to grow in the city.
The Congress MLA told the House that everyday 40 to 50 stray dog bites are being reported in the city, and the most of the victims are children and senior citizens.
"The Bhopal Municipal Corporation is catching, sterilising, and vaccinating numerous dogs daily, but the menace of stray dogs shows no signs of abating. This problem is no longer limited to fear or inconvenience, but has become a serious public health and administrative failure," Congress MLA Aqeel said.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Minister, Kailash Vijayvargiya, while responding to a query by 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," Minister Vijayvargiya said.
During the discussion in state Assembly, Congress and BJP leaders were also seen taking a jibe at each other, which filled the House in laughter and a healthy atmosphere witnessed.
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 Attention Motion 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 detailed discussion on contaminated water that killed at least 35 people in Indore's Bhagirathpura area. It shows the seriousness of the BJP-led state government," LoP Singhar said.
Source: IANS
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