Mumbai: BMC to begin cat sterilisation from January 2020

BMC will pay the agencies Rs 800 for a tomcat and Rs 1,000 for a cat

After years of discussion, BMC will begin the sterilisation of stray cats from January next year. The BMC has appointed four agencies who will have to catch the cats and sterilise them. The civic body will pay R800 for a tomcat and Rs 1000 for a cat and has set a target of 300 cats per month.

Shiv Sena corporator Anil Patankar first came up with the idea of sterilising stray cats in 2018 which received a positive response from the BMC.

While the standing committee approved the proposal in January 2019 and the sterilisation was supposed to start from April 1, the process never took off.

However, the officials are certain that the process will not be delayed any further. "We have given work orders to four agencies and the units located at Parel, Malad, Goregaon and Govandi will start working within a month. There will be targets set for each unit according to their capacity," Dr Yogesh Shetye, general manager of Deonar abattoir and project in charge said.

The Bombay Veterinary College (Parel), In Defense of Animals (Govandi), Universal Animal Welfare Society (Malad) and Animal And Bird Care and Advance Research Centre (Goregaon), are the four agencies finalised by the civic body.

While Parel and Goregaon units will have a target of sterilising 50 cats (male or female) in a month, Govandi and Malad units have a target of 100 cats per month.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates