VIJAYAWADA: Despite the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s (VMC) willingness to provide necessary land and financial assistance for the maintenance of stray cattle, no farmer or NGO is coming forward to handle the task. Going by the recent census, Vijayawada city has around 1,300 stray cattle, of which a significant number are let out on roads by their owners to feed on their own.
“Bovines disturbing vehicles and pedestrians has become a common sight in various parts of the city. One can see a large number of stray cattle roaming freely and even sleeping on roads such as BRTS Road, Satyanarayanapuram, One Town and Eluru Road. Only a continuous drive against the menace and imposition of a hefty penalty can instil fear among the cattle owners,” said B Kamalakar, a shopkeeper on BRTS Road.
He further stressed the need for constitution of a committee, comprising officials from the civic body, police, animal husbandry and fire services to devise a mechanism to keep both the cattle and motorists safe on roads. Speaking to TNIE on Monday, VMC veterinary assistant surgeon A Sridhar said by defying warnings from the corporation, many people are continuing to let their cattle out on roads to feed on litter and graze in the fields.
"As a permanent solution to the stray cattle menace, an enumeration drive is underway to record the details of the livestock owners. Recently, a meeting was convened with municipal commissioner V Prasanna Venkatesh over the matter and he has directed to take up a project jointly with the support of the Animal Husbandry department," he added. Elaborating further on the project, the VAS said that the civic body has proposed to construct a cattle shed in five acres of land available in Vambay Colony.
Of the total land, two acres will be utilised for cultivating fodder and two for constructing a shed. In this regard, NGOs and animal lovers have been requested to come forward and extend their support.
“On behalf of the VMC, we are ready to provide manpower and depute staff from the Animal Husbandry department. A system will be developed to access the amount spent by the civic body on a stray cattle and the same will be recovered from the owner if he/she approaches us, besides imposing a penalty of `2,000,” Sridhar said.
Due to various reasons, for the past six months, the civic body has not been shifting the stray cattle to sheds. Taking advantage of the situation, the majority of the cattle owners are letting the bovines go after extracting milk from them. Plans are also under consideration to pass a resolution in the council to impose a hefty penalty of Rs 5,000 on the cattle owners for the first time for letting their bovines roam on roads and if he/she commits the mistake again the cattle will be seized by the civic body, he said, adding that project will be implemented within next couple of weeks.