LUCKNOW, May 1 -- Even after repeated promises and a budget of around Rs.3 crore sanctioned over a year ago, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) is yet to begin work on the city's first animal crematorium, which would have catered to thousands of departed pets and stray animals.

Since 2023, officials have claimed "work will begin within a week," but tenders for the project haven't been floated to date. The delay has forced pet owners to either bury their loved ones in open spaces, while stray dog carcasses continue to pile up near the Shivri solid waste plant, where the LMC buries them manually, previously reported by HT on October 5, 2023.

LMC officials admitted that the project remains stuck in the tendering stage. "The technical ...