All bark, no bite? Centres double but sterilisations ‘low’

Bhopal: While the city's resources to deal with the challenge of sterilising dogs have gone up, the ground reality and figures have not changed much. Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has expanded its Rabies-Free City programme, doubling sterilisation centres in the last three years. Yet, official figures reveal only a modest rise in sterilisation numbers. Up to Feb 28, 2026, BMC managed 23,363 dog sterilisations and 29,766 anti-rabies vaccinations in the city, with an expenditure of about Rs 25.7 lakh.This total—around 29,000 sterilisations—is barely above the 25,000 recorded earlier, raising concerns about the programme's effectiveness in tackling the city's growing stray dog population.Experts warn that the pace of sterilisation is far too slow. With stray dog numbers rising, they stress that Bhopal must scale up to at least 60,000 sterilisations annually to achieve meaningful population control and reduce the risk of rabies transmission. The current figures highlight a gap of more than 31,000 sterilisations per year, even after infrastructure expansion.