Stray dogs rove the ammunition factory at Khadki

For months now, Ammunition Factory, Khadki , established in 1869, has been grappling with a peculiar problem...

For months now, Ammunition Factory, Khadki (AFK), established in 1869, has been grappling with a peculiar problem — a pack of 60-odd stray dogs are giving a harried time to the workers of the factory.

Stray dogs enter the premises from the “chhota gate” of the factory during night hours, when securitymen are busy checking the visitors, says a senior official of the factory.

Additional General Manager (Administration), AFK, S K Nafri said: “We are worried about the safety of workers as dog bite cases are going up. “ The menace need to be curbed “to avoid any type of accident,” he said. Workers who carry “palkhis” with explosive raw material from High Explosive Factory to AFK are the most worried.

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Nafri said “palkhis” are provided with security and the “strays who are friendly with the workers, walk with them.” Sources said the main worry of the workers is that they might trip with the “palkhi,” leading to a blast.

Fed up with the nuisance, AFK officials have sought the help of the Khadki Cantonment Board — in whose jurisdiction the factory is located —- and the Pune Municipal Corporation, but in vain. Neither the Cantonment Board nor the PMC has come to help one of nation’s premier defence factories, employing over 5,000 workers.

While the KCB reportedly conveyed its inability to help, citing lack of infrastructure and other constraints, the PMC officials pointed out that AFK was located outside its jurisdiction.

On November 2, Nafri wrote a letter to Pune Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi, requesting him to help curb the menace which was growing manifold in the factory premises.

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“Their rate of reproduction is also very high due to non-sterilisation. The result is increasing cases of dog bites. There have been instances when these dogs started chasing people who were manually carrying highly explosive items,” Nafri said in the letter.

The problem, wrote Nafri, becomes all the more grave during night when the employees are unable to leave even after the shift is over, fearing the dogs.

PMC’s dog control unit chief Narendra Thakur said since AFK was located outside PMC, they couldn’t help. “We keep getting requests from Sawad and Lonavala as well, but we have our limitations,” he said.

Meanwhile, an official of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation said they are ready to help out AFK. “We will catch the stray dogs at a nominal fee,” said PCMC health chief Nagkumar Kunachgi.