He wakes up from his slumber, and gives a wide yawn. After the usual stretch, he walks outside his hostel. He hopes to grab a bite of whatever his many friends may have left. After the free food, he decides to strut around the corridors in the academic buildings in IIT Roorkee. The rest of the day passes venturing around the canteen or on the grounds. Finally, when the sun goes down, he heads back to his usual place of sleep. If you thought this the routine of an engineering student in IIT Roorkee, you are mistaken. This is an account of Sheru’s daily life- one of the many dogs that live within the campus of IIT Roorkee. This is more or less the routine of the several dogs that have made the campus their home. But, very soon, this routine may change as the college authorities have proposed to employ two dog-catchers in the campus.
IIT Roorkee doesn’t just house students but is also the home to several dogs. Utkarsh, a third-year student at IITR, says, “There are close to 50 dogs all over the campus, mainly in the area close to the bhavans (hostels). They have become a part of the daily life of many students here. We love playing with them. We have also named them Raja, Pinki, Sheru and so on.” Students feed them, at times play with these dogs. The dogs in IIT Roorkee have also inspired a page on facebook, called the Dogs of Roorkee.
While majority of the students adore them, there is a faction which is weary of the dogs’ presence in the campus. Following frequent complaints of dog menace from this segment, the Student Affairs Council (SAC) has offered to appoint two dog-catchers in the campus. The college has sanctioned funds for hiring the men for the job. It will be their responsibility to catch dogs in the campus and decide the further course of action. The dogs may be dropped at the Municipal Dog Pound where they hope that the dogs might be looked after. Suggestions to relocate the dogs at farms on Dehradun Road, around 20kms away from the campus are also being considered. The thoughtful option, though, would be to sterilise them, which is also being debated by the SAC.
Like monkeys at IIT Madras, dogs in IIT Roorkee are a part of mutual existence in the campus. Though the other IITs have a lot of dogs around their campus, IIT Roorkee seems to have just too many than what they can handle.