VIJAYAWADA: The number of road accidents involving stray animals has been on the rise in the city in the last few months. Be it the busy stretch between Satyanarayanapuram and BRTS Road, Krishna Lanka, Gandhi Nagar, Kedareswarapet, Kothapet to Samarang Chowk area in One Town, the stray cattle pose a threat to both motorists and pedestrians.
There is a huge outcry from road users about the nuisance caused by the stray animals on arterial roads hindering traffic. But the stakeholders including the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) often remain on backfoot in tackling the menace. A proposal to construct a designated cattle shed for stray animals in the city by civic body officials still remained on papers, despite the decision taken a year ago.
Animal activists in the city alleged that cattle owners often let out their livestock on roads allowing it to feed from garbage bins and litters to save money spent on cattle feed. Accidents often happen as the stray animals feed on vegetation on the medians. Few months ago, two youth escaped with minor injuries in a road accident near Saradha College Junction on BRTS Road. The animal activists demand constitution of committee comprising officials from the civic body, police, animal husbandry and fire services to device a mechanism to keep both the cattle and motorists safe on roads.
Going by the recent census, Vijayawada city has as many as 1,300 stray cattle, of which a significant number of animals seem to be let out on roads by their owners to feed on their own. Special teams formed by the civic body has penalised the owners of stray cattle with a hefty penalty of `5,000, the number of stray cattle roaming on the roads speak of the inefficiency of the mechanism. ''There seems to be no relief for denizens from the cattle menace on roads. A couple of times, we heard VMC punishing the cattle owners for letting out the livestock on roads but it was stopped," said M Ramamohana Rao, an animal activist.
''In the last few months, the corporation was only penalising the owners of the stray animals in the city. There are no proper animal shelters to house the seized stray animals. In addition to it, they have to feed the stray animals until the owners approach them. Another flaw is the inability to identify the owners of the seized cattle. These constraints in tackling the stray cattle menace put forward by the civic body show that the subject has remained a long-pending issue,'' said M Venkateswarulu, who runs an NGO.
"Despite instructing cattle owners to not to let the animals out on roads leading to traffic congestion at major junctions across the city. Besides causing traffic jams, the stray animals are often involved in mishaps, injuring themselves as well as the motorists,'' VMC assistant veterinary surgeon A Sridhar told Express.
Taking a serious note of increasing accidents due to stray cattle, the civic body has decided to build a cattle shed in 10-acre land at Mallavalli village near Gannavaram in the district to tackle stray animal menace. Geo-tagging and insurance claim will be done to the stray cattle before they are shifted to the cattle shed. It may take at least two more months to construct the cattle shed, he said.
Sridhar also informed that VMC has handed over 24 stray cattle to organic farmers for agriculture purpose, when the owners of stray cattle failed to take them back in a week's time. A meeting was already convened with the organic farmers in the district and majority of them expressed their willingness to take care of the stray cattle, he said and added that procedure would be done in the presence of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry department officials. He also admitted that civic body has been lacking vehicles, ramps and necessary staff to shift the cattle. The issue was taken to the notice of municipal commissioner J Nivas. In return, he directed the officials concerned to prepare estimates in purchasing the vehicles, he said.
GFX: Action against owners of stray cattle
1,300
Stray animals roam on the streets, causing utter chaos and traffic jams at busy junctions
Rs 5,000
Fine imposed on cattle owners who let their stray animals roam freely on the roads
Rs 60,000
Fine collected by the corporation in the last one year
Where they wander:
Satyanarayanapuram
BRTS Road
Krishna Lanka
Gandhi Nagar
Kedareswarapet
Kothapet to Samarang Chowk area in One Town