Mumbai: Stray dog population has likely increased to 1.64 lakh from 95,000 in 2014, says BMC

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday said the population of stray dogs in Mumbai has likely reached 1.64 lakh, nearly 72 per cent more than that in 2014, reported news agency PTI.

The population of stray dogs in the city was 95,000 as per the census conducted in 2014, it said in a release, reported PTI.

The BMC has planned the next census of stray dogs in January 2024 and based on it, a large-scale rabies vaccination campaign is proposed in February 2024, the release said.

Around one lakh stray dogs will be vaccinated in ten days, it said.

According to PTI, the civic body with the help of a few NGOs vaccinated 26 stray dogs against rabies at Mumbai International Airport on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Mumbai's civic body has seized 87 kilograms of single use plastic on the first day of its drive against the prohibited item and collected fines worth Rs 2.95 lakh, an official told PTI.

The drive was undertaken on Monday as per the environment department's directive in coordination with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and police, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release.

"The drive will continue in full swing. On the first day of the drive, civic teams checked 1,159 establishments and found 59 cases of violation of the notification against single use plastic. These teams seized 87 kilograms of single use plastic and collected Rs 2.95 lakh in fines. The fine is Rs 5,000 in each case," it said.

The BMC has formed 24 different five-member teams, one for each word, for this drive and various establishments like malls, shops, hawkers and other units are being checked, an official said.

In 2021, the Centre issued a notification banning manufacture, use, sale, transportation, handling and storage of single use plastic, the release said.

It said as per the government notifications, all kinds of with and without handle carry bags of all thickness, non-woven polypropylene bags having weight less than 60 gram per square metre (GSM), plastic and PVC banners of less than 100 microns, plastic and thermocol used for decoration are banned.

Plastic dishes, bowls, containers, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery items, straws, stirrers and containers and bowls used for packaging in the hotels and restaurants are also banned as per the notification, the release highlighted.

As per the release, disposable dishes, cups, plates, glasses, cutlery, bowl, containers with plastic coating or plastic lamination are banned along with sweets packing boxes, invitation cards, cigarette box coverings, plastic sticks used for balloons, plastic flags, ear buds made of plastic, and ice-cream sticks are also banned.

(With inputs from PTI)