New Delhi [India], August 12 (ANI): Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's order directing the removal of stray dogs from all localities in Delhi-NCR within eight weeks and said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) would implement the order in a phased manner.

While speaking to ANI, Delhi Mayor Singh said, 'We will implement the Supreme Court order. MCD has 20 operational shelter homes. We will work in a phased manner - in the first phase, we will pick dogs that are prone to biting or are rabies-infected. Later, we will focus on other stray dogs. All this will be done with the help of NGOs. We will soon launch a helpline.'

He added that a meeting with all agencies across Delhi-NCR is being planned to work towards creating dog-free areas and that the sterilisation programme will be scaled up.

'CM Rekha Gupta never says no to any project and she thinks about public welfare. In shelter homes, the dogs will be treated as pets,' he added.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on Monday took serious note of the stray dog menace and directed Delhi-NCR authorities to begin removing stray dogs from all localities and house them in dedicated dog shelters to be set up by civic bodies.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that all localities should be made free of stray dogs and there should not be any compromise. It also made it clear that no captured animal will be released back on the streets.

It also ordered contempt proceedings against any individual or organisation that attempts to obstruct the authorities from carrying out the capture drive.

'If any individual or organisation comes in the way of picking stray dogs or rounding them up, we will proceed to take action against any such resistance,' said Justice Pardiwala.

The apex court also directed the states and municipal authorities to create dog shelters with sufficient staff to sterilise and immunise them.

'NCT Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, MCD, and NMDC shall start picking up stray dogs from all localities, particularly from more vulnerable localities. It is for the authorities to look into and, if they have to create a force, do it at the earliest. However, this should be the first and foremost exercise to make all localities free of stray dogs. There should not be any compromise in undertaking the exercise,' said the bench.

It further directed that authorities in Delhi-NCR must set up a helpline so all dog bite complaints can be registered, with the offending animal picked up within four hours of a complaint.

It also ordered all authorities to maintain a record of daily stray dogs captured and detained. The bench stated that CCTV monitoring will ensure compliance, and no dog should be released back into the street or public spaces.

The bench also asked authorities to publish details about places where rabies vaccinations are available.'The authorities concerned, more particularly the government of NCT Delhi, are directed to put detailed information about the place where such vacancies are available, the stock of vacancies and the number of persons who report for treatment every month,' ordered the bench. (ANI)