The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is planning to undertake euthanasia of aggressive and demonstrably dangerous stray dogs after the Supreme Court’s recent order upheld prioritisation of human safety.

A senior MCD official said a review meeting chaired by MCD Commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar is likely to be held on Thursday (May 20, 2026) to determine the course of action and assess infrastructure requirements for managing stray dog populations and shelters across the city.

In its Tuesday (May 19, 2026) order, the Supreme Court ruled that when the safety and lives of humans are weighed against the interests and welfare of sentient beings, “the constitutional balance must necessarily and unequivocally tilt in favour of the preservation and protection of human life.”

The court said authorities may, after due assessment by qualified veterinary experts and in accordance with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, take legally permissible measures, including euthanasia of rabid, incurably ill and demonstrably dangerous or aggressive dogs.

Officials said the civic body is planning to instate a step-wise mechanism before any decision on euthanasia is taken, with a monitoring committee comprising representatives from the MCD and the Delhi government’s animal husbandry department likely to be constituted in line with the Supreme Court’s directions.

“Just because someone says a dog has bitten does not mean it will be euthanised immediately,” a senior MCD official said.

He said dogs identified as aggressive or involved in repeated biting incidents will first be brought to an ABC centre for observation for around 10 days.

The official explained that aggressive behaviour among stray dogs can stem from several factors, including anxiety due to injuries, chronic illnesses, worm infestation, impaired vision, or protective behaviour in female dogs that have recently given birth.

As part of the proposed protocol, sedatives may be administered for 10 to 14 days to calm the strays and assess behavioural improvement.

“We will also assess under what circumstances the dog bit someone. If, despite treatment and observation, the dog continues to display aggressive behaviour and shows no signs of improvement, euthanasia may be carried out in the presence of two doctors,” the official said.

Under the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, incurably ill and mortally wounded dogs, as diagnosed by a team appointed by the Local Animal Birth Control Monitoring Committee, may be euthanised humanely by a qualified veterinarian through intravenous administration of sodium pentobarbital or any other approved method.

Officials said dogs suspected to be rabid would also be kept under observation. “Rabid dogs usually die within 10 days. The observation period helps determine the condition,” an official said.

The MCD on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) said it is ramping up sterilisation efforts as part of its broader stray dog management strategy. According to official data, 1,01,394 dogs were sterilised between April 2025 and March 2026.

Additionally, officials said it would seek land from the Delhi government to set up dog shelters in every zone in the city, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions.

“To speed up the process of setting up dog shelters, the corporation is also considering executing some projects under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives,” an official said.

However, officials said several projects linked to dog shelters and ABC centres have been delayed due to interdepartmental issues and delays in the release of funds.

“In 2024-25, the budget for the Rohini and Usmanpur ABC centres for two years was allocated together to the engineering department, but work has still not started,” an official said.

The Supreme Court has also directed authorities to augment preventive infrastructure, particularly in institutional areas such as schools, hospitals, railway stations and sports complexes, where dog bite incidents have risen sharply.

MCD officials said the court’s directions had now cleared ambiguity regarding the relocation of stray dogs from sensitive public spaces.

Published – May 21, 2026 02:18 am IST

New Delhi:

The AAP will file a plea in the Supreme Court on Saturday against the “unconstitutional, illegal and undemocratic” MCD standing committee poll, senior party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi said.

The BJP won the last vacant seat of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s 18-member Standing Committee unopposed on Friday as the councillors of the ruling AAP and Congress boycotted the election.

In a press conference, Atishi dared the BJP to get the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) dissolved and face the AAP in elections to see who the people want to rule the civic body.

She alleged that the elections were held “misusing” the powers of the lieutenant governor and the officers.

The rules allow only the mayor to fix the date and place of the MCD House meeting and only the mayor can preside over it, the chief minister said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed at least 13 coaching centres in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar after three civil service aspirants died in the flooding of the basement of a coaching institute in the same area.

The action by the civic body, which continued till late Sunday night, came after three students – Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav and Navin Delvin – were killed when water suddenly gushed into the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle on Saturday evening.

The coaching centres that were sealed included IAS Gurukul, Chahal Academy, Plutus Academy, Sai Trading, IAS Setu, Topper’s Academy, Dainik Samvad, Civils Daily IAS, Career Power, 99 Notes, Vidya Guru, Guidance IAS, and Easy for IAS.

“These coaching centres were found to be operating in basements in violation of rules and they were sealed on the spot and notices were pasted,” an order by MCD Mayor Shaili Oberoi said.

The Rau’s IAS Study Circle was already sealed by the police and its owner and the coordinator have been arrested and charged with culpable homicide.

Delhi Coaching Centre Deaths

Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav — both aged 25 — and Navin Delvin, 28 when water gushed into Rau’s IAS Study Circle’s basement – being used as a library in violation of rules.

Several other students were trapped in the waterlogged basement and were rescued after a seven-hour-long operation.

Tanya, who had come from Telangana, was a native of Bihar’s Aurangabad and a student of Delhi University, according to reports. She had been staying at a women’s hostel of Delhi University’s Maharaja Agrasen College and had taken admission to the coaching institute one and a half months ago.

Shreya Yadav was a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Ambedkar Nagar. She earlier used to stay at a PG Hostel in west Delhi’s Shadipur area and had taken admission to the coaching institute two months ago. She had done her BSc in agriculture from a college in Uttar Pradesh.

Nevin, from Ernakulam in Kerala, was pursuing PhD in Arts and Aesthetics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He had joined the coaching institute eight months ago but had been staying in rented accommodation near the university in the Vasant Kunj area.

How Delhi Coaching Centre Put Lives In Danger

The investigations so far have indicated multiple lapses on the part of the coaching centre’s owner and civic authorities.

The Rau’s IAS Study Circle centre got a No-Objection Certificate from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in August 2021. The certificate, accessed by NDTV, underlines that the basement is for parking use and household storage.

The coaching centre for civil service aspirants got an NOC from the fire department earlier this month. This document, also accessed by NDTV, mentions that the building has complied with fire safety requirements. It adds that the basement should be used strictly as per building bye-laws.

The building bye-laws lay down that adequate arrangements shall be made to ensure surface drainage does not enter the basement. It also added that if the basement is used for office and commercial purposes, there should be a sufficient number of exit ways and access ways. In the case of the Rajinder Nagar coaching, there was only one entry/exit.

Even as the police are probing the cause behind the flooding, locals blame the poor drainage system in the area. They say it was heavily clogged with silt and overflowed leading to a flood-like situation following rains.

The coaching centre owner Abhishek Gupta and coordinator Deshpal Singh have been remanded the duo in 14 days of judicial custody.

Police have registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings).