With heaps of organic, inorganic matter and above all stray dogs in every nook and corner of Srinagar city, people have urged the concerned authorities to restructure functional mechanism, mobilise scavengers in order to keep the city clean and pollution-free. Although the governmental efforts are on to add more and more cosmetic arrangements to turn the valley more attractive and captivating, people believe that such attempts cannot yield positive dividends until and unless the functionaries of SMC do not mobilise their sanitary staff, especially scavengers. "The choked drains emit foul smell and have become breeding centres for many diseases. The SMC has a big contingent of sweepers, but they are conspicuously absent everywhere. The number of stray dogs has grown enormously high and has made the lives of people quite miserable," says Latief Ahmad of Batmaloo. The number of stray dogs has multiplied over the years and cases of dog bites are reported every day with no one to adopt remedial measures which is also a matter of concern for the people. "Our children are scared of moving out. Children are accompanied by their elders to schools or tuitions for the fear of being bitten by the stray dogs. Even grown ups find it difficult to move out of their homes to offer pre-dawn and pre-dusk prayers," rues an elderly Abdul Gani Dar of Channapora. Estimated to be more than one lakh in Srinagar district, the stray dogs have bitten more than 1300 people last year, and the total number of dog bites in the Valley in 2007 is nearly 3500. There have been two rabies deaths in 2007, according to Social and Preventive Medicine (SPM) department of Government Medical College. Concerned over the increasing population of stray dogs in the city, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) had launched a drive to kill more than one lakh such dogs in March this year. The corporation was also in the process of procuring the poison used to kill the dogs but the corporation faced stiff resistance from human rights groups especially Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). As a result the war against stray dogs even before being declared had to be reluctantly put off. The human rights activists blamed SMC for failing to ensure hygienic sanitation conditions in the city, and the garbage heaps littered with eatables have become a breeding ground for the dogs. They resisted the drive on the grounds that poisoning of dogs was against the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Poisonous Substances Act, and Municipal Act. However SMC officials blame people for the increased number of stray dogs and said that the dogs breed more in the valley because of availability of the meat-rich leftovers in the garbage. People should not throw the eatables on the roadside or open spaces. We have installed garbage bins at many places of the city but they are too lethargic to use them.