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Hindustan Times
31-07-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Dog bite cases surge in Punjab, 1.5 lakh cases reported in first 6 months
With an average of around 840 dog bite cases reported daily, Punjab has witnessed a sharp increase in incidents this year. In the first six months of 2025, the state has recorded over 1.5 lakh dog bite cases, with Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Patiala being as the worst-affected districts, accounting for nearly 36% or 53,432 cases. With an average of around 840 dog bite cases reported daily, Punjab has witnessed a sharp increase in incidents this year. In the first six months of 2025, the state has recorded over 1.5 lakh dog bite cases, with Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Patiala being as the worst-affected districts, accounting for nearly 36% or 53,432 cases. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/ Representational image) Last year, the state reported a total of 2.13 lakh dog bite cases. The data, accessed by HT, has revealed a steady jump in cases over the past few years. From 1.10 lakh cases reported in 2020, the number of dog bite cases has gone up to 2.13 lakh in 2024, a rise of more than 1 lakh in four years. Three deaths have been reported this year. Last month, a mother-daughter duo died of rabies in Pathankot, and on July 17, a 32-year-old man succumbed in Patiala after being bitten by a stray dog. Dr Sumeet Singh, district nodal officer of the National Rabies Control Programme, said that rabies is 100% fatal. 'Of the total cases of dog bites, nearly 70% of the cases were from stray dogs. People should immediately rush to the nearest government health centres for treatment, which is free. People should not be ignorant at all. Punjab government has now extended treatment of dog bite cases to all the Aam Aadmi Clinics across the state,' he said. Failure of sterilisation programmes The senior officials from the local bodies department admitted that the animal birth control (ABC) programme has failed to deliver the desired results across Punjab, particularly in major cities. 'Most of the municipal corporations in Punjab have outsourced the sterilisation of dogs to private agencies, but this has not yielded effective outcomes. Sterilisation remains the only scientifically proven method to control the stray dog population and, in turn, reduce dog bite incidents,' said a senior official, who didn't wish to be named. An expert epidemiologist said that of the total dog bite cases, more than 50% of patients had grade-3 wounds, who needed immunoglobulin to be administered before the dog bite vaccine, said the epidemiologist. A grade-3 dog bite is a single or multiple transdermal bite with contamination of the mucous membrane with saliva. 'The grade-3 bite requires anti-rabies serum (ARS) before the anti-rabies vaccine, to make the dose effective. Without ARS, the vaccine is of no use as the victim may die within a few days,' the expert said. Patiala municipal corporation commissioner Paramvir Singh said after seeing a rise in the cases, they have stopped outsourcing the sterilisation programme. 'Instead of giving a contract for the sterilisation of stray dogs to a third party, we have decided to carry it out ourselves. We have got three veterinary surgeons with us, and we will sterilise 50 dogs per day in the coming weeks,' he said. Dr Sandeep Jain, co-opted member, Animal Welfare Board of India, said a lack of follow-up and accountability in sterilisation efforts has seen a sharp rise in the dog population. 'In rural areas, panchayats are not involved in the ABC programme. There is no accountability in rural and semi-urban areas. In rural areas, stray dogs get used to eating animal flesh because of designated places for the disposal of dead animals. If these strays don't get animal flesh, they start biting people. If the government sterilises 70% of the stray dog population in a year, then dog bite cases will start to decline,' he said. No SOP for dog bite compensation The Punjab health department is yet to issue standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the government doctors on whose diagnosis the compensation for dog bite cases would be fixed. The department had constituted a five-member committee to formulate SOPs following the order of the Punjab and Haryana high court, last year, announcing the compensation of ₹10,000 for each tooth mark and that of ₹20,000 for every 0.2 cm of wound where the flesh is torn off. One of the five committee members, pleading anonymity, told HT that they had already formulated the SOP, but the department did not issue it to the doctors. Dr Arshdeep Kaur, state nodal officer, did not respond to repeated calls and text messages.
Hindustan Times
11-07-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
15 fresh diarrhoea cases reported from Patiala village
With 15 fresh cases reported on Thursday, the diarrhoea outbreak in Alipur Arriyan village of Patiala district continues to spiral out of control. With 15 fresh cases reported on Thursday, the diarrhoea outbreak in Alipur Arriyan village of Patiala district continues to spiral out of control. (HT Photo) In all, there have been 131 cases of diarrhoea reported so far. Despite the district administration's efforts over the past seven days, the situation remains the same due to the failure to restore clean drinking water supply in the affected area. Patiala Municipal Corporation has so far failed to identify and fix the suspected leakage in the underground water pipeline. According to officials, multiple inspections have been carried out, but the exact location of the leakage is yet to be found. Paramvir Singh, commissioner, Patiala Municipal Corporation, said, 'We have fixed the leakages and health teams have already taken samples. Test reports are awaited. Until test reports are out, we are providing water to the affected area through 10 water tanks.' He added that 90% of the water connections in the diarrhoea-hit area were illegal, which is why water contamination happened. 'Since we don't have any scientific mechanism to identify water leakages, we have to manually dig and check it wherever there is a leakage. It's a time-consuming task,' said Paramvir Singh. Meanwhile, residents of the area were hesitant to take the alternative water supply given the water sample of a tank, which was providing water supply to the area, failed the potability test. The MC commissioner said underground water was being supplied, but there was a possibility of contamination in the water tank itself, which has now been replaced. A senior official in the district administration admitted that the source of water contamination remains unresolved. 'We are conducting door-to-door surveillance, awareness campaigns, and round-the-clock medical assistance, but unless the pipeline is fixed and clean water restored, it will be difficult to fully contain the situation,' the official said. The district health department has distributed ORS packets and chlorine tablets to prevent the spread. Patiala deputy commissioner Dr Preeti Yadav, however, claimed that the outbreak was under control as they had completed mapping of all patients. Patiala civil surgeon Dr Jagpalinder Singh said health teams had been deployed in the village round-the-clock, and a temporary medical camp had been set up to treat patients showing symptoms.
Hindustan Times
25-04-2025
- Hindustan Times
Jammu and Kashmir: Security beefed up at Vaishno Devi Shrine
Following the Pahalgam terror attack, security has been beefed up at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra. Reasi senior superintendent of police Paramvir Singh said, 'We have upped the security and we are on an alert. We are doing everything within available resources including random checking to ensure foolproof security.' According to an estimate, 11,000 ponywallas, palanquin owners and pithuwallas, ferry pilgrims to the cave shrine and back to Ban Ganga. While Katra sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Piyush Dhotra issued them registration cards, verification of their credentials was done by police and the staff of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. 'There are around 11,000 pithuwallas, ponywallas and palanquin owners. Their registration is done on yearly basis after we get clearance from the CID, who check their credentials and conduct a thorough verification,' said the SDM. He informed that wherever CID finds adverse reports against the applicant, the application is outrightly rejected. 'Apart from a tough verification process, there is a robust mechanism in place on the tracks. The shrine board staff along with police and CRPF ensure proper security and regulate the pilgrimage. All due care is taken,' he said. On an average, 30,000 to 35,000 pilgrims visit the cave shrine during lean days and the footfall goes up to 45,000 to 50,000 pilgrims during Navratri festival. The shrine board has installed CCTV cameras on vantage points along the tracks and at Bhawan. The security is being looked after by CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police. Two pony service operators booked Meanwhile, in a crackdown against unauthorised service providers and impersonators on the Vaishno Devi track, Reasi police on Thursday registered two separate FIRs under relevant sections against two men, who were fraudulently operating as pony service providers. During routine patrolling near Geeta Mata Mandir, Bathing Ghat-2, a man claiming to be Puran Singh was stopped by the police and asked to produce his authorised pony service license. 'On verification, the photograph on the card did not match the individual. Upon further scrutiny, his Aadhaar card revealed his true identity as Manir Hussain, son of Mohammad Musa of Jhandi in Thakrakote tehsil of Reasi district. The impersonator was found to be misusing someone else's authorised card to illegally operate on the Vaishno Devi track,' said a police officer. Accordingly, FIR number 111/2025 under sections 319/223 of the BNS was registered at Katra police station and investigations taken up. In another incident near Ban Ganga bridge, a person identified as Sahil Khan, son of Shah Mohammad of Kotli in Akhnoor was found operating a pony (mule) without any valid authorisation. 'Upon inquiry, he admitted to having no registered pony card in his name, thus violating SDM orders and operating unlawfully. In this regard, FIR number 112/2025 under section 223 of BNS was registered against him at Katra police station,' police added. He said that strict surveillance, patrolling and verification drives will continue to prevent such unlawful and potentially dangerous activities to pre-empt any sabotage. 'We urge all service providers to carry vaild authorisation cards and also call upon pilgrims and locals to report any suspicious activity they observe, to the nearest police personnel,' he added.
