BHOPAL: Presence of not one, but 30 horses at the Collectorate premises on weekly Jan Sunwai (public hearing) day caused a flutter in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur district on Tuesday.
On the day when long-standing grievances of commoners are given patient hearing by the collector, 30 stray horses weren’t victims of any injustice, but instead, the cause of woes allegedly being suffered by residents of Patonda village of the west MP district.
Unable to stem the destruction of the newly sown crops by these horses, Patonda residents led by village sarpanch Omraj Baviskar brought the 30 horses to the District Collectorate premises. The villagers subsequently went into the Jan Sunwai leaving the horses outside. Once at the public hearing, the villagers narrated how over 40 stray horses were wreaking havoc with their crops.
“Around 40-50 stray horses are regularly crushing the standing as well as newly-sown crops. We’ve been raising the issue with the authorities but the problem remains unaddressed. We were left with no option but to bring the horses here,” said the sarpanch.
The villagers even compelled Burhanpur ADM Romanus Toppo to come out to see the horses. The ADM subsequently informed the issue to Burhanpur district collector Rajesh Kaul. With Burhanpur not having a Kanji House, the collector asked the Municipal Corporation and forest department to leave the horses in remote jungles after sterilising them.