At a time when the debate regarding whether stary dogs should be allowed to stray in the streets continues to rage across the country, several residents of flood-battered Kolkata ventured into waterlogged streets to rescue the dogs in their locality -- a move that has been lauded by animal lovers and social media users. Videos of several such attempts have been doing rounds on social media with animal lovers urging more people to help the strays in their areas as they have been without food and shelter for days.
City-based RJ Shekhar Paul of Fever 104 FM shared a video of him looking for his elderly pet stray, Kaanu, in his flooded locality.
Another video showed him sheltering more Indies as they licked him and pranced around him. The videos prompted several Instagram users to praise RJ Shekhar for taking care of the street dogs. "Bless you, brother. It's because of people like you that there is hope for these dogs. May you always live well," commented one Instagram user.
"We need more people like you in the Supreme Court," said another user, referring to the apex court's order in August demanding all dogs be shifted away from residential localities following a rise in incidents of rabies deaths following stray dog attacks.
It had added that any organisation attempting to block this exercise would face the strictest action. The order, however, was later modified after massive nation-wide protests. The Supreme Court allowed stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to be sterilised and vaccinated before releasing them back into their original areas.
Other videos also showed residents looking for their pet strays and guiding them to their homes.
After five hours and 300mm plus rainfall, Kolkata came to a standstill, but I'm here for my Doggesh gang," wrote an Instagram user.
10 dead in rain-related incidentsAt least 10 people were killed, nine of them due to electrocution, as torrential overnight rain — the heaviest in nearly four decades — battered the metropolis and adjoining districts.
According to the Kolkata Police, one of the deceased was identified as 60-year-old Jitendra Singh, who got electrocuted at Hossain Shah Road at nearly 5.15 am on Wednesday.
Others who lost their lives were identified as Firoz Ali Khan (50) of Beniapukur, Pranatosh Kundu (62) of Netaji Nagar, and Mumtaz Bibi (70) of Ekbalpur.
The heavy downpour brought the city to a standstill as it disrupted air, rail, and road transport, shut educational institutions, and prompted the state government to advance Puja holidays.
The deluge – 251.4 mm in less than 24 hours – was the highest since 1986 and sixth-highest single-day rainfall in the last 137 years, only behind the record 369.6 mm in 1978, 253 mm in 1888.
On Tuesday, the maximum hourly rainfall of 98 mm was recorded between 3 am and 4 am, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, clarifying that it does not satisfy the cloudburst criteria.
According to the IMD, rainfall exceeding 100 mm in an hour over a 20 to 30 sq km area is defined as a cloudburst.
(With inputs from PTI)
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