Chennai: At 1.45am on Saturday, Anandh stepped out to buy coffee while waiting for a train to Lucknow at MGR Chennai Central. Three stray dogs chased him near the station’s front entrance, and one bit him. He rushed to the emergency care unit inside the station, but it had no anti-rabies vaccine in stock. Staff dressed his wound, gave him a tetanus shot and referred him to Govt General Hospital.Anandh, who had been waiting near Gate 6, was not the first victim of dog bite at the station. The emergency care unit on the premises, run by Apollo Hospitals, has recorded at least 20 dog-bite cases in the past two months. Railway officials said they received four to five complaints every week.The station handles at least one lakh passengers daily and has around 25 stray dogs roaming its premises. Dogs sleep in waiting halls, beneath steel benches on platforms, near security checkpoints and outside washrooms. Platforms 1, 6 and 7 are among the hotspots, officials said.In Nov 2025, the Supreme Court ordered civic bodies to remove stray dogs from public places, including hospitals, colleges, bus depots and railway stations, and prevent their return. The court set an eight-week deadline to implement the measures. Nearly a year later, dogs continue to roam Chennai Central.A railway official said repeated complaints to Greater Chennai Corporation over the past two years had failed to resolve the problem. “Every week, at least four to five dog bites are reported, but many cases go unreported. Corporation officials come, sterilise the dogs and release them at the same locations. The next time, they take away only those that have not been sterilised. Dogs here are aggressive and keep biting people,” the official said.For passengers who are bitten, the station’s lack of anti-rabies vaccine another hurdle. A senior medical officer at the emergency care unit said sterilisation alone does not protect against rabies. “A dog bite victim must take anti-rabies vaccine within the prescribed time. Rabies is fatal once symptoms develop, so timely vaccination is crucial,” the officer said.Greater Chennai Corporation commissioner G S Sameeran said, “We will definitely organise a special drive in central Railway station premises. Similar drive has been done in various institutional limits based on Supreme Court orders and the community dogs have been relocated.”
