At least 632 dogs were sterilised and 2,320 vaccinated against rabies between January and July this year in Kolkata, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has said in response to an RTI.
The reply was sent on August 30, 2025, and signed by the office of the chief municipal health officer. My Kolkata has a copy of the RTI response in its possession.
In its response, KMC admitted that it was “presently not in a position to provide” information for certain queries. Details such as ward-level breakdowns and records of complaints, were withheld, citing exemptions under the RTI Act.
The reply added that the withheld data would be available with the Public Safety Unit, and that KMC “regularly conducts ward-wise awareness through posters and ARV vaccination campaigns”.
The petitioner in a PIL on stray dog management at Calcutta High Court, lawyer Akash Sharma, dismissed the figures as insufficient and inconsistent.
“According to the authorities, 30 dogs in a day, really? The math doesn’t add up. Their reply is not just incomplete but ex facie contradictory to their statements, and it doesn’t align with their records. True implementation of the ABC rules demands clarity and accountability,” Sharma said.
The issue comes against the backdrop of Kolkata’s rising stray dog population and a steady surge in bite cases across Bengal.
Press Information Bureau reports show dog bite cases rose from around 23,000 in 2022 to nearly 76,000 in 2024, with more than 10,000 cases reported in January 2025 alone.
KMC’s flagship ABC programme, launched in 2022 with a target of covering 84,000 dogs, has so far reached only a fraction of the goal, with infrastructure bottlenecks at facilities like the Dhapa pound limiting progress.