Ahead of R-Day parade, Corporation shifts homeless persons from Marina

According to a Chennai Corporation official, 49 persons, including 2 children and 12 women, were rescued during an intensified drive on Thursday night. “We continued the drive on Friday morning and rescued two more homeless men. All the rescued homeless persons, including some beggars, were staying at the Marina beach for a long time. They were sent to the night shelters run by Corporation,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the veterinary wing of the Chennai Corporation also had conducted a special drive on the Marina beach and caught stray dogs and cattle.

“Even though we are conducting routine drives, an intensified drive was conducted for nearly a week. More than 250 stray dogs were caught and sent to the city Corporation facilities for sterilisation and vaccination. They were caught from the areas along the Beach Road from Anna Square to Nochi Kuppam. We will leave the stray dogs at same places where they were caught after the Republic Day event,” an official attached to the wing said.

Also, the civic body has caught four cows roaming near the beach and slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the owners of the cattle. “The drive is mainly to prevent strays from entering the parade and injuring school students participating in cultural and other Republic Day events.”

Meanwhile, the Chennai Corporation has prepared an action plan to control the stray dog population in the city and decided to implement the plan in one of the 15 zones on a trial basis.