At least 40 stray dogs, living in and around the Supertech twin towers in Uttar Pradesh's Noida, have been shifted temporarily to shelters run by NGOs ahead of the court-mandated implosion of the buildings on Sunday, 28 August.
Several NGOs, including House of Stray Animals, Friendicoes, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), and Happy Tails foundation have pitched in to accommodate the stray dogs temporarily.
Around 5,000 residents of the two housing societies near Supertech twin towers have also been evacuated in view of the implosion planned at 2.30 pm.
The founder of House of Stray Animals, Sanjay Mohapatra, who has been working to evacuate the stray animals from the area around the twin towers said that they have requested authorities to carry out a dummy explosion in order to save the birds in the area from the blast.
"We are planning and working since 8 August to save these stray animals from the impacts of the demolition. We also requested the authorities concerned to make two or three false firing or dummy explosions first so that the birds do not get affected due to the blasts," Mohapatra told PTI.
He said that around 40 stray dogs have been shifted to shelters.
The volunteers of the NGOs also carried out awareness campaigns outside the premises of the twin towers and advised people to vacate the area along with their pets temporarily.
"We have been working in association with the Noida Authority and the Noida Police to evacuate stray animals. When we got to know that the demolition date was postponed to 28 August, we formed a team on 21 August, considering we had some more time to save these voiceless creatures," Mohapatra said.
The volunteers of the NGOs carried out awareness campaigns and advised people to vacate the area along with their pets temporarily.
(Photo: Shiv Maurya/ The Quint)
He said that the evacuated stray animals will be returned to the area by evening.
"We have been visiting the premises of the twin towers everyday to ensure that no animal enters the area. At least 40 volunteers have been involved in their evacuation," he added.
SPCA member Anuradha Dogra said that there were several stray dog feeders too, who got in touch with them for the evacuation of the dogs.
"Stray dog feeders also got in touch with us for the evacuation of the animals. We received a call this morning regarding one such dog who was inside the premises. We have coordinated with the Noida authorities to shift the dog from there," Dogra said.
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