Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu laid the foundation stone on Tuesday for a modern dog shelter in Dwarka. This facility will hold around 1,500 stray dogs once it is complete. It marks the Capital’s first dedicated shelter of this scale for street canines.
The shelter will come up on roughly 6,050 square metres of land in Dwarka Sector 29 and is being developed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Construction is expected to begin shortly and wrap up by November this year. BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi, MLA Kailash Gehlot and several other senior officials attended the ceremony.
Writing on X after the event, Sandhu said the facility would “provide safe shelter, care and rehabilitation for stray dogs with modern infrastructure designed to ensure their welfare and well-being.” He asked the MCD to bring animal welfare organisations, dog lovers, veterinarians and subject experts into the project, so their experience shapes the shelter in what he called a “sustainable and compassionate manner.”
Laid the foundation stone of a modern dog shelter at Sector-29, Dwarka today, to be developed by @MCD_Delhi along with Hon’ble Mayor Shri @praveshwahi Ji, Hon’ble MP Shri @RamvirBidhuri Ji, Hon’ble MLA Shri @kgahlot Ji, and other distinguished guests.
Spread across approximately… pic.twitter.com/d6yQmkcxDy
— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) July 28, 2026
What makes the project notable is how it’s being funded. The GMR Varalakshmi Foundation is covering the cost through its corporate social responsibility programme, which means the MCD won’t spend anything to build it. Sandhu called it “a fine example of public-private partnership,” one that he said strengthens Delhi’s broader commitment to animal welfare without straining civic funds.
The L-G also stopped by Delhi’s only cremation centre for small animals during the visit and reviewed how it’s been functioning.
Delhi’s stray dog population is estimated at somewhere between 8 lakh and 10 lakh, largely within MCD’s jurisdiction, and the city sees more than 25,000 dog bite cases reported at hospitals every year. Against that backdrop, the Dwarka shelter is one of several projects the MCD has lined up to build out the city’s stray dog management infrastructure.
A senior MCD official said a five-acre, MCD-owned plot in Mukundpur is also being considered for an integrated facility combining an Animal Birth Control centre, a dog shelter and a dog crematorium, built in line with the Standard Operating Procedure set by the Animal Welfare Board of India and the Supreme Court’s directions on the matter.
Later in the day, Sandhu travelled to Aerocity near the airport, where GMR officials briefed him on the district’s infrastructure plans, covering sustainable urban planning, water conservation, traffic management and last-mile Metro connectivity. He stressed close coordination with the Delhi Development Authority given Aerocity’s proximity to Dwarka, and directed that green infrastructure stay central to future planning for the area.
(With IANS inputs)
July 28, 2026
