Delhi’s biggest fear at present is dogs.

IIT Kharagpur, a 75-year-old institution in Bengal, is also facing the “dog” issue on its campus.

The magnitude of the problem is so large that the authorities formed a committee last month, which met twice in the past 12 days to find ways to prevent dog bites on campus, and has come up with a list of recommendations.

After considering the recommendations, the administration of IIT Kharagpur has resolved to prohibit dogs from entering the residential hall areas for care and feeding. This measure follows several complaints regarding dog bites on campus, as stated by an official from the institute.

The committee, which met on Monday, also resolved that “feeding may be temporarily arranged outside Hall premises”.

The committee’s recommendation, which was sent to the IIT Kharagpur director, said the security section should ensure that no “outside dogs” should be allowed to enter through the gates of Halls and boundary entry gates.

The recommendations say a large pet care zone (preferably the area in between helipad and MG stadium) be constructed immediately with iron net fencing to keep all the dogs of the campus with shade and arrangements “for feeding and water supply”.

“Pet lovers may be allowed to visit the zone and to feed the dogs if they desire”, the recommendations stated.

The issue came to the fore at a time when the Supreme Court had to intervene over the issue of stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR, following an outburst across the county over an earlier directive of the apex court.

On 11 August, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court had expressed concern over the rising “menace of dog bites leading to rabies” in Delhi and its suburbs. The bench ordered all street dogs in the capital to be shifted to shelters, never to be released, dismaying animal rights bodies and many citizens.

On August 22, the apex court refused to stay its order to round up all stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR region, but modified the directive to say the dogs can return after sterilisation and de-worming.

IIT director Suman Chakraborty said they would implement the recommendations of the committee in light of the Supreme Court’s recent order.

“The recommendations placed by the dean of students’ wellbeing, Arun Chakrabarti, have been accepted. The recommendations will be implemented in the light of the Supreme Court’s order,” Chakraborty told Metro.

The recommendations listed by the dean said the civil construction and maintenance committee should complete the task of developing the zone immediately.

“Leftover/wastage food from the Halls may be collected, and the details of logistics may be coordinated by Prof. Sudeshna Koley (a teacher of computer science department at IIT Kharagpur) with the student volunteers. Pet lovers may be allowed to visit the zone and feed the dogs if they desire. The gate of the pet zone care may be managed by a security guard,” the recommendations said.

An IIT official said that they had been encountering the issue of dog bites on campus over the past several months.

Complaints had been pouring in from a section of campus residents, including teachers, students and officials.

“The committee had to meet and came up with solutions, which it thought would be in the interest of all,” the official said.

The issue of stray dogs on the campus is not unique at IIT.

Metro reported on May 11 that some students of IIM Calcutta — past and present — had in a letter to the Animal Welfare Board of India, accused the institute of “inflicting cruelty” on “community dogs” and relocating them from the campus.

Then, IIM-C director-in-charge Saibal Chattopadhyay, said that the institute was in the process of developing a dog enclosure on the campus following a letter from the board.

In 2015, at Presidency University, an open makeshift enclosure had been built behind the Baker Building where six strays had been kept following complaints of dog bites.

An IIT official said that since the stray dog issue is a sensitive issue, they have sought to explore an option that could be acceptable to all under the circumstances.