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.
An NGO has also requested authorities to conduct a dummy explosion or a false firing just before the twin towers are razed in order to save the birds in the area.
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.
Founder of House of Stray Animals, Sanjay Mohapatra, who has been working to evacuate the stray animals from the area around the twin tower said 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 August 8 to save these stray animals from the impacts of 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 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 tower and advised people to vacate the area along with their pets temporarily.
"We have been working in association with Noida Authority and Noida police to evacuate stray animals. When we got to know that demolition date was postponed to August 28, we formed a team on August 21 considering we had some more time to save these voiceless creatures," Mohapatra said.
He said the evacuated stray animals will be returned to the area by evening.
"We have been visiting the premises of the twin tower everyday to ensure no animal enters the area. At least 40 volunteers have been involved in their evacuation," he said.
SPCA member Anuradha Dogra said 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 evacuation of the animals. We received a call this morning regarding one such dog who was inside the premises. We have coordinated with Noida authorities to shift the dog from there," Dogra said.