TIRUCHY: Tamil Nadu topped the list of states with most road accidents in 2021, a National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report recently stated. Contributing to the numbers is accidents from stray animal crossing, with a BHEL employee here, who is said to have recently sustained injuries after falling from his bike while evading a cow, among them.
While city residents demand more measures to curb stray cattle menace, corporation officials say it is not easy as it looks. Deepak, a shopkeeper in Palpannai, said accidents occur when two-wheeler riders do not anticipate animals to stray into a road. He also pointed out that the recent rains made roads slippery, making riders to lose balance easily when an animal crosses suddenly.
"A BHEL worker who was returning from work was stopped by a cow; he fell from the bike and sustained injuries," he added. A Karthik, an autorickshaw driver in Cantonment, said it is not just cattle, but horses, too, that are let astray. "Horses are more ferocious than cattle; they do not just roam like cows, but jump and run, terrifying pedestrians and motorists," he said.
Stray cattle are also blamed for traffic blocks in prime areas like Old Palpannai, Gandhi Market, Ariyamangalam and Uyyakondan Thirumalai. Murugananthan, a load man at Gandhi Market, pointing to how busy the locality is because of the movement of trucks said, "As cattle are let astray here trucks are forced to manoeuvre around them.
This at times causes traffic pile-up stretching an hour.” When enquired, city corporation Commissioner R Vaithinathan said capturing stray cattle was riskier than is expected as it invites several problems. "It requires immense police support as in many places law and order disruptions occur due to various reasons," he added.
To drive home the point, the commissioner pointed out how corporation workers were recently stopped by a group while ferrying impounded cattle. It could have ended up as a religious issue, but it was averted by police intervention, he added. The untamed cows are also a major concern, as in several places workers have sustained serious injuries while seizing them.
To avert such incidents sometimes the cattle head were sedated before catching them. Owing to such complications, tackling the issue is taking time, the commissioner said. Further, in areas like Palpannai, most roads are under the control of the NHAI while in others, cattle trespass from panchayat areas, he said. Cooperation from all departments is indispensable to rid the city of stray cattle menace, the official stressed.