Open dumping of food waste main reason for increasing strays: RWAs

Poor solid waste handling, including a lack of segregation, in the Capital isa likely chief reason for a rapid rise in Delhi's stray dog population over the years, experts and residents’ associations said on Monday, after the Supreme Court ordered that dogs be removed from streets.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok and Varun Bhandari

Residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) pointed to easy access to food, particularly at open bins (dhalaos) outside shops at markets and construction sites, for ensuring food security and an increase in their numbers.

Atul Goyal, who heads URJA, an apex body of over 2,500 RWAs in Delhi, said: “At most dhalaos, there are multiple dogs. A number of these rely on food and waste that end up here. We are also seeing a similar situation at markets, where improper disposal of waste, often dumped in the open, provides access to food and waste byproducts.”

“We require segregation at source and food or wet waste needs to be composted, instead of dumping at dhalaos and landfills. ‘We see the same thing with cattle, which often end up at dhalaos and feed on all sorts of waste there,” Goyal said.