The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) recently started a campaign to get rid of the numerous pigs roaming the city. MCG Commissioner TL Satya Prakash has entrusted the joint commissioners of all four zones with the job.
"We had been receiving numerous complaints about stray pigs from both residential and commercial areas," said Prakash. "In the past four months, the MCG has managed to capture 500 pigs from across the city."
A majority of complaints were from South City I and II, DLF Phase I and III, Kaman Sarai, Surat Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Palam Vihar, Mayfield Garden and major bus stands of the city.
Earlier, district administration had come down heavily on the pig owners. Owners were penalised if their animals were found on the streets. Multiple violations attracted a jail term of upto six months. But that did nothing to solve the problem.
Helpless with the situation at hand, MCG decided to capture the stray pigs and sell them to breeders outside the city.
The operation has not been easy. "On several occasions, our recovery team has been attacked by pig-owners," said Satpal, a recovery team leader. "The recovery teams, without the support of police, are vulnerable to such attacks."
Dharambir Yadav, RWA president of Mayfield Garden (D Block), claims that MCG has no control over pig breeders.
Breeders in areas such as Nathupur and Chakkarpur often leave their animals to graze, which gives rise to unhygienic conditions. It is a fairly common sight to see pigs roaming about in most parts of the city.
"There have even been instances where pigs have caused road accidents," said Sameer Mathur, a resident of S block, DLF Phase I.
