The canine count has gone up at Sector IV. Picture by Pankaj Singh

A cruel joke doing the rounds of Bokaro district these days is about how people returning home late have a new worry to deal with. Not Maoists, but stray dogs.

The number of street dogs have grown at an alarming rate in Bokaro Steel City and adjoining Chas, Jaina More, Balidih, Chandrapura, Chandankyari, Bermo and the industrial hub of Bokaro Thermal and statistics provided by the Bokaro civil surgeon’s office corroborated this.

According to Mithilesh Kumar, 655 people have been administered anti-rabies vaccines between April and July in government hospitals and health centres. This number doesn’t include hundreds of others who may have got treated at private clinics.

“Each and every locality of this city and neighbouring townships is affected by the stray dog menace. We have asked the animal husbandry department and municipality officials to do the needful, but the problem is aggravating by the day,” he told The Telegraph.

Pramila Datta, a schoolteacher, spoke from personal experience. “Stray dogs are a big nuisance for morning walkers and those who return home late at night. The population of strays is multiplying leaps and bounds but the district administration is sleeping,” she said on Thursday, two days after her husband was attacked and bitten by a stray around 10 pm even as he tried to speed away in his motorbike.

Kumar said 150-155 people visit government hospitals complaining of dog bites in a month. But thankfully, the health department had ensured adequate supply of anti-rabies vaccines — around 6,000 vials at government hospitals and another 5,420 at sub-divisional community centres.

Chas municipality chief R.K. Gupta claimed he had sent a proposal to Ranchi four years ago seeking permission to conduct a mass sterilisation drive. But, the plan fizzled out as there was no response from the state capital.