Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr14: In 2011 the then Divisional Commissioner, Asgar Samoon had hired a `Pied Piper' to rid Kashmir of stray dogs. An official handout was also issued which confirmed the development.
Samoon also urged the Municipal authorities to allow the Piper use his skills in two wards provided he does not kill the canines.
The Piper was supposed to start his job shortly but then something happened and the mission could not be accomplished.
Like the children who followed the Piper of Himelin, the whereabouts of Khurshid Ahmad Mir, who had to play the `Piper' for the state government are not known. The state government, it is believed played the typical king of Himelin who promised an amount to the Piper and ultimately backed out.
However, Khurshid is not a magician like the Piper of Himelin who got rid of the rats of his town for a few thousand guilders. He is a businessman and runs a consultancy. His services are sought by five star hotels in India and abroad.
According to data furnished by the Municipality, the city of Srinagar has around 200,000 stray dogs. The city needs only 5000 dogs for scavenging. The rest, experts believe have to go. The Municipality had plans to poison the dogs.
The poison worth Rs 15 lakhs, internal sources said, had been procured but could not be administered as the news was leaked to animal rights activists who came to the rescue of the canines.
The alarming increase of dog population, according to medicos in SMHS hospital was directly proportional to increase in dog bite cases. As per official data, the anti-rabies clinic at Srinagar's SMHS hospital registers 4000 cases of dog bites every year.
There has been a staggering increase in the dog bite cases. In 2005, these totaled 4311, while the cases added up to 2,873 in 2006, 3434 in 2007 and 4035 in 2008.
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