Shiekh Bilal
Under the Smart City Mission, Srinagar is learning to wear a new look while holding on to its old soul. The historic Amira Kadal Bridge, once choked with traffic and neglect, now greets pedestrians with widened walkways, ornamental heritage lighting, and views of the Jhelum that had long been forgotten. A few minutes away, Polo View has been reborn as a car-free high street — cobbled paths, chinar-leaf benches, and uniform facades give the market a European plaza feel without losing its Kashmiri character. At Lal Chowk, the Ghanta Ghar stands in a new smart plaza, flanked by digital displays and open seating where families gather in the evening. The Jhelum riverfront, once just a bund, is now a promenade with cycle tracks, sit-outs, and the sound of laughter replacing silence.
The intent behind these projects is unmistakable: to make Srinagar cleaner, walkable, and welcoming. For a city of gardens, shrines, and administrative nerve-centres, it is a much-needed embrace of modern urban living.
But the facelift has a shadow
Step into Polo View Park after dusk, or take a morning walk along the newly developed Rajbagh bund, and you’ll hear the same concern from shopkeepers, parents, and tourists alike: stray dogs. Despite the smart bins and LED lights, packs roam Amira Kadal’s footpaths. They rest under the chinar benches at Polo View and trail visitors along Boulevard Road. For many, the fear has become routine.
Srinagar’s anti-rabies clinics at SMHS and SKIMS see 30 to 35 dog bite victims every single day. Official data indicates a sharp upward trend, with cases increasing from 93,765 in 2024 to 1,12,695 in 2025—an increase of nearly 20,000 incidents within a year. Jammu & Kashmir has recorded more than 2,06,460 dog bite cases in the last two years (during 2024 and 2025), with 79,616 from the Kashmir Valley alone, underlining a growing public health concern linked to the rising stray dog population. On average, the Union Territory recorded around 282 dog bite cases per day over the two-year period, raising serious concerns about public safety, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas where human-stray dog interactions are frequent. The surge in dog bite cases coincides with a substantial stray dog population. A 2023 survey conducted by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation and other urban local bodies estimated 1,52,775 stray dogs across major urban centres of Jammu and Kashmir, including 64,416 in Srinagar alone.
A personal scar that still lingers
I know this fear intimately. In my school days, a pack chased me down a narrow lane on my way home. I escaped unbitten, but not unscathed. Since that day, I’ve carried a phobia of dogs. Years later, the fear hasn’t left me — I still can’t walk alone in the market without scanning every corner.
It happened again recently, and in broad daylight. I was on my way to office, crossing the newly renovated Amira Kadal Bridge, when a stray came charging, barking furiously. In that moment, the heritage lights and smart walkways disappeared. All I felt was the same schoolboy panic — heart pounding, steps freezing. I was lucky that the passersby intervened. But not everyone is. And not every street has someone to step in.
Magam, Budgam: The flashpoint that divided public opinion
On May 9, 2026, the debate spilled beyond Srinagar. In Magam, Budgam, a video went viral showing a stray dog attacking a man on the roadside near a shop. The footage captured the dog biting the man on the left side of his abdomen as passersby rushed to intervene. The injured man, with visible bite marks, later questioned why police had filed an FIR against those who came to his rescue.
After locals stepped in and the dog was beaten to death, Budgam Police registered an FIR under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 at Police Station Magam. Social media fractured instantly. “Killing a rabies dog is not a crime… Self Defence is not a Crime,” wrote some users. Others called it outright cruelty and demanded accountability.
This was not Budgam’s first tragedy. In March 2025 a 30 year old man of a village in Beerwah, died after a stray dog attacked him on his way to the fields. He succumbed after 12 days at SKIMS.
Why smart infrastructure alone isn’t enough
The Smart City Mission has given Srinagar new public spaces, but the dog menace exposes the gaps between beautification and biosafety:
Amira Kadal Bridge: School children and vendors are being bitten on restored walkways. Consistent, ward-wise sterilization drives in downtown are still missing. I experienced this risk firsthand.
Polo View High Street: Packs gather near eateries after dark, deterring tourists and evening shoppers. The area needs night sanitation squads and regulation of informal feeding points.
Jhelum Riverfront: Morning walkers are frequently chased by territorial packs. There is no rapid animal control response team for these stretches.
Lal Chowk Smart Plaza: Visitor complaints about stray dogs impact footfall and the city’s image. Public helpline numbers and awareness boards are not visible on site.
Open garbage dumps near markets and hospitals continue to feed the problem, even as smart bins appear elsewhere. Sterilization and anti-rabies vaccination, or Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ARV) has not reached the WHO-recommended 70% coverage. And when citizens confront an aggressive dog in a public plaza, the fear of an FIR — like the one in Magam — often follows the fear of a bite.
Reclaiming the city for everyone
Srinagar’s charm has always been its balance: the Jhelum’s calm with Lal Chowk’s bustle, the Mughal gardens with the Secretariat’s corridors, the new Polo View plaza with the old city’s memory. Restoring that balance means treating public safety as part of the Smart City vision.
That would require ward-wise ABC-ARV saturation, scientific waste management around Amira Kadal and Dal Gate, rapid-response teams for aggressive dogs, and clear public guidelines so that self-defence doesn’t become a criminal case. It also means listening — to the mother who avoids Polo View Park after sunset, to the office-goer who freezes on Amira Kadal Bridge, and to the man in Magam who asked why helping a victim invited an FIR.
Srinagar has built new bridges, plazas, and promenades. The next step is to make them safe. Only then will the Smart City truly belong to the people who walk its streets — and to the visitors who come looking for paradise, not peril.
The author can be reached at bilal.sbak@gmail.com
