Mumbai goes animal friendly: Set to open 3 crematoriums of pet animals for free of cost

Mumbai, January 24: Mumbai set to go animal-friendly as Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation set to open three animal crematoriums to dispose of the carcasses of pet animals free of cost. 

BMC Ajoy Mehta decided to set up the incinerators after taking into account the rising number of pets in the city, he said. The incinerators will be set up at Mahalaxmi (in south Mumbai), Deonar (eastern suburb) and Malad (western suburb).

Tenders will be floated by June for setting up the new incinerators. The facilities are expected to be operational by next year. "The carcasses will be disposed free of cost at these facilities, which would be operated on a public-private- partnership basis," he added.

There are over 300 private animal clinics in the city while the BMC also runs a pet clinic in suburban Khar.

At present, the Kora Kendra, an NGO run by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission in suburban Borivali, picks up and buries carcasses of stray cattle free of cost, he said.

As per an animal census conducted in 2012, there were around 33,572 dogs in the city, the BMC said in a statement. A similar census in 2014 revealed that there were 95,172 stray dogs in the city. Of them, 69,239 canines were sterilised under the animal birth control programme, it said.