GUWAHATI: An Arunachal Pradesh officer has found a simple yet effective way to prevent road accidents involving mithuns, a bovine species deeply tied to the local tribal culture.
Niyang Pertin, the Circle Officer of Pangin in Siang district, personally funded and distributed fluorescent collars to mithun owners to make the animals more visible on the highway. The initiative was launched on Friday, winning widespread appreciation.
“Some areas along National Highway 13, which connects Pangin with Pasighat, are perpetually foggy. As mithuns are dark, they are hardly visible, and this often leads to road accidents. Once, my vehicle was about to hit a mithun. So, I decided that we should do something about it. The animal has a lot of socio-cultural significance in our Adi community,” Niyang said.
After discussions with mithun owners and village chiefs, she discovered that 20-30 mithuns had been killed in road accidents over the past two years. “They also said the accidents started happening after the construction of the highway. But we need highways for connectivity and development,” she added.
With no government scheme to protect mithuns, Niyang reached out to PWD (Highways) Pasighat division executive engineer Okep Dai for collaboration. “I spoke to him and asked if he could collaborate. He readily agreed and helped us procure the fluorescent collars,” she said.
The collars, purchased from a dealer in Delhi for Rs 30 each, were distributed at an event to owners whose mithuns stray onto the highway. “This was my personal initiative. My next plan is to buy some more fluorescent collars and cover the cows too because they also get hit by vehicles on the highway,” Niyang said.
The initiative has received an overwhelmingly positive response from locals and people in other districts.