Almost one lakh rupees for catching 30 cats. That’s exactly how the average Bengaluru taxpayers’ money goes down the drain. What the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike would spend if asked to catch 30 tigers, one might ask.
The civic body recently invited tenders after the BBMP was asked by senior staff at the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the state’s Governor, to control the menace of 30 odd tomcats.
“We received information that the cat menace has been increasing in Raj Bhavan. The BBMP Commissioner also had a look at this issue. Based on the contractor who is looking at the problem, we have been told that it will cost Rs 3,000 to catch one cat. For 30 cats it will cost up to Rs 95,000,“ city Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun told News9.
Explaining the process, a senior BBMP offiicial told TNM, “The tender was issued by the Joint Director and the Deputy Director of the Animal Husbandry Department. If in the tendering process, if everybody quotes more than the estimate, we might have to give them. The catching process will require rented vehicles and experienced catchers who need to be authorised by concerned veterinary officers and can catch the cats in an unharmed manner.”
In December 2018, the Senior Assistant Director of Horticulture wrote a letter to BBMP Joint Commissioner of Animal Husbandry Department, G Anand, to this effect. “The cats are very aggressive and cause trouble whenever the Governor goes out for a walk, especially with his dogs. The cats have even injured the dogs. The halls and private residence of the Governor and VIPs are littered with dirt due to these cats,” a Raj Bhavan official told Deccan Herald.
The BBMP was recently criticised for not doing enough to carry out animal birth control programmes in the city to curb the population growth of stray dogs and also administering anti-rabies vaccination.
However, the tender is not surprising. TNM had earlier reported how the civic body floated tenders to trap 3,000 odd pigs to curb a swine menace.