New Delhi: Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) progress on the implementation of several commitments it made before Supreme Court to curb the city’s stray dog population and reduce incidents of human-animal conflict has remained sluggish.MCD was among the first few civic bodies in the country to submit an affidavit before the apex court in Oct 2025, detailing measures taken or proposed to tackle the problem.Among its key promises was the establishment of a dog shelter in Sector 29, Dwarka, to house aggressive or ferocious dogs. No work has started at the identified site despite visits by members of the deliberative wing of MCD, along with other officials, in the past.The first such facility in the city is proposed on a 2.5-acre plot where an animal birth control (ABC) centre is already functional. The shelter is expected to house over 1,500 dogs at a time. After approval from the MCD commissioner, the public health department agreed to fund the project.“However, the implementation will be carried out by the engineering department. It has to float a tender, after which it will take at least five months to complete construction and make the site operational,” an MCD official said.Despite the corporation assuring the court that it will set up dog-feeding points, it has yet to finalise the project. The department concerned had identified 735 feeding points in the city, but only 28 signage boards have been installed so far.To scale up its sterilisation programme, MCD had proposed in its affidavit before SC that it would construct additional kennels at five ABC centres — one each in Bijwasan, Bela Road and Usmanpur, and two in Rohini.“To expedite the ABC programme, construction of 14 additional dog kennels has now started at the Bijwasan sterilisation centre run by Friendicoes SECA, an NGO. The facility currently can house 550 to 600 stray dogs. After expansion, around 550 more can be accommodated, enabling sterilisation and immunisation of over 1,000 dogs per month. The process for installing sheds is in progress, and we expect the work to be completed within a month,” another MCD official said.A project for building kennels at the Bela Road centre began only last week and is expected to take another three to four months before it becomes fully operational.No significant progress has been reported on a proposed microchipping project for strays, which aims to create a database of sterilised and vaccinated dogs for better monitoring and management. The veterinary department plans to initiate the tendering process in the current financial year, for which Rs 20 crore has been allocated. Earlier, funds were largely restricted to sterilisation drives, officials said.MCD currently has 20 sterilisation centres, of which 13 are operated by eight NGOs. The remaining seven are yet to obtain the mandatory certificate of project recognition from Animal Welfare Board of India. “The certification is necessary to verify service quality, staffing and other operational capacities,” an official said.In comparison, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has set up a dedicated shelter for aggressive dogs at its veterinary hospital in Moti Bagh, with the facility capable of housing up to 30 dogs at a time. Kennels have been built specifically for keeping aggressive dogs, and there are plans to further expand the facility.Acting on Supreme Court directions, NDMC has earmarked 100 designated feeding points across 14 circles, covering major markets, parks, religious places and residential colonies.Officials said the court’s direction against filing criminal cases or FIRs against govt officials and dog catchers carrying out orders to remove stray dogs from public areas would help in conducting sterilisation drives more effectively.“The court has ordered strict contempt action against individuals or organisations obstructing municipal operations. There have been several instances where our staff faced hostility and lack of cooperation while carrying out such drives,” the official added.
