BERHAMPUR: More than 7,000 stray cattle in the Silk City were tagged with special 11-digit identity numbers under a joint drive in the last two months.
In order to end the menace of stray cattle on city roads, Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) along with Ganjam district veterinary officials had jointly launched the project in July and started tagging all cows, bulls, bullocks and buffaloes.
Through awareness drive, the BeMC has also persuaded cattle owners to keep their animals in cowsheds and not let them out to roam in the open. After the process of tagging ends, no stray cattle will be allowed on the roads of Berhampur. The civic body will seize the animals and make their owners, identified from the tags, pay a fine to get them back. If no one pays the fine and reclaims the cattle, the administration will hand over the seized animals to poor dairy farmers living on the outskirts of the city.
Ganjam Collector and administrator of BeMC Vijay Amrit Kulange said the tagging process will be repeated every six months to include new animals.
Sources said the last domestic animal census in Berhampur was held in 2012. Although it is to be conducted every five years, the next census will be held this year. As per the 2012 census, there were 6,359 cows and 793 buffaloes in the city.
Meanwhile, the BeMC and veterinary officials have seized five cows from the city last week. As the owners of the cows did not turn up, the officials handed over them to five farmers of Rangeilunda block.