BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to tackle the stray cattle menace on the roads of the capital, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has initiated steps to set up an advanced Cattle Rehabilitation Centre at Jamukoli on the outskirts of the city.
Spread across 18.5 acre at Jamukoli, around 13 km from the city, the centre will provide shelter and healthcare facilities for around stray 2,200 cattle. The site has been selected for its connectivity to NH-16 and its semi-rural surroundings, which are expected to provide a low-stress environment for rehabilitation while ensuring easy access for municipal authorities and veterinary teams, said officials.
Be it Saheed Nagar, Satya Vihar, Old Town, Nandankanan Road or Patrapada, stray cattle menace has emerged a major concern in the city.
Though multiple drives and initiatives have been launched, they haven’t yielded desired results. The existing facilities are also proving insufficient in accommodating all stray cattle in the city.
A senior official said, the project, which will house the impounded stray cattle, will have a major impact on public safety, traffic management, sanitation and animal welfare in the state capital. The rehabilitation centre has been planned as a low-rise campus with dedicated zones for animal care, administration, staff accommodation and environmental management.
Key facilities include 16 cattle shelters, a fully-equipped veterinary hospital complex with operation theatres and recovery wards, post-operative care units, fodder storage and processing facilities, worker dormitories and an administrative block. It will also have a guest house-cum-multipurpose hall for training and community activities, a temple complex, internal circulation roads, green buffer zones as well as waste management infrastructure such as biogas and vermicompost plants.
Sustainable features including rainwater harvesting, solar energy systems, earthen roads and dung-based resource recovery mechanisms have also been planned in the proposed campus.
The project will follow best practices and guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) to ensure scientific management and animal care and environmental sustainability, officials said.