BMC puts sterilising stray cats on hold until 2019 elections end

Stray cats are routinely spotted at BMC-run hospitals, like this one was spotted and trapped at KEM Hospital

Patients in BMC-run hospitals might have to put up with stray cats next to their beds until the end of the election season. After years of delay, BMC's health department was supposed to start sterilizing cats from April 1 to stop them from reproducing in the hospitals. But the work has been halted due to the code of conduct for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In BMC-run hospitals, cats are often seen sharing their beds with the relatives of the patients or staring at their food. This can be extremely harmful for the patients as an infected cat could spread several kinds of zoonotic disease like toxoplasma, which is also called 'cat parasite'.

Considering the overcrowding of cats in civic-run hospitals, BMC had floated an expression of interest for sterilizing them, for which the Animal Welfare Board also provided them with a rate card. The agency would charge R600 for female cats and R800 for male cats. While the tender for the project has been approved, the final processing is pending. "According to the new proposal, we are going to spend around R1 crore for the sterilization. We would provide the land for it too," said Dr Padamaja Keskar, executive director, BMC's health department.

But, BMC cannot undertake this new project right now as it would be considered a violation under the code of conduct. This is not the first time BMC has sought to initiate this program. They wanted to do it in June 2018 too, when stray dogs were being sterilized. "Cats breed twice a year and give birth to two to three kittens at a time. We have received several complaints from people about overcrowding of cats [in hospitals] so we decided to sterilize the cats. But due to the code of conduct, it has been put on hold," said Dr Yogesh Shetye, who is handling the project.

Rs 1crore
Amount of money BMC is spending on the sterilisation

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