UP govt deadline to tackle stray cattle ends, no solution in sight
MISSED TARGETS
LUCKNOW: As the deadline set by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to rid Uttar Pradesh roads of stray cattle ended on Thursday, cowcatchers stepped up efforts under the supervision of administration officials, but not a single district appeared to have even reached halfway close to the target.
In Gorakhpur, the CM’S home town, civic officials were left staring at the mammoth task of catching 2,000 stray animals on the last day. They caught only 50. Municipal Corporation officials said only 600 of approximately 2,600 stray cattle were caught in 79 days. In the absence of a cow shelter, the animals had to be shifted to Maharajganj. Such a facility is being constructed on a nine-acre plot on Gorakhpur’s outskirts at a cost of ~1.60 crore, they said.
KASHI MISSES DEADLINE
An official in the veterinary department of Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC), who did not wish to be named, said from clerks to pharmacists to veterinary doctors, all were engaged in the cattle-catching drive. Fiftytwo stray animals were caught on Thursday, he said, adding the department has only two vehicles and needs at least five more.
CAPITAL HITS 1,000 MARK
About 60 cattle-catchers caught 1,156 stray animals in Lucknow from January 3-10, an official said. “We caught 123 cows on Thursday,” he said, adding some cow-catchers were injured in the process of dragging the animals and herding them into vehicles.
A cattle-catcher said the district magistrate (DM) had personally supervised the drive.
BUNDELKHAND ‘HOMES’
In Bundelkhand region, district officials struggled to catch lakhs of stray animals that destroy 30%-35% crops every year. There were reports of clashes between villagers and officials. Several government buildings in villages were turned into temporary cow shelters, officials said. The animals were kept even at mandis.
Mahoba DM Sahdev was seen personally catching stray animals for the past three days. The district has about 1.56 lakh stray cattle. Sahdev said his team took 50,000 animals to 300 shelters.
SLAUGHTERHOUSES IN KANPUR PUT TO USE
With Kanpur facing a shortage of space to keep the cattle, its closed slaughterhouses were put into use. DM Vijay Vishwas Pant said, “The two closed slaughterhouses of the Kanpur Municipal Corporation in Bakarmandi and Colonelgunj have been turned into temporary shelters.”
The move has upset the Jamiatul Qureish, an organisation representing the cause of meat-sellers. Dubbing the move unilateral, it said the administration could not use the Colonelganj facility as it was a Muslim waqf property.
BAREILLY STRUGGLE
Officials of Bareilly Nagar Nigam struggled to catch stray cattle amid protests from people. On Wednesday, a group raised a ruckus at Delapeer police outpost and freed 18-20 cows. Similar incidents were reported elsewhere.
Municipal health officer Abbas Ali Ansari said, “I have written to the DM and the SSP to ask for adequate police forces.”
DM Virendra K Singh said action would be taken against those trying to create trouble.
PRAYAGRAJ’S FOCUS
Having failed to meet the deadline, officials in Prayagraj have shifted focus on constructing new sheds, for which the chief minister has given two months’ time.
Dheeraj Goel, a veterinary officer at Prayagraj Municipal Corporation, said 12 teams had been deployed to rid city roads of stray cattle. “Seven teams are working during the day, while five teams take up working in the night.”
Prayagraj DM Suhas LY has directed sub-divisional magistrates of all eight tehsils to get one-two gaushalas constructed in every development block.
MEERUT DAMPER
Claiming that no relief from the cattle menace was visible on the ground in Meerut, Jagdish Singh, head of Chabaria village, said: “All efforts seem to be only on paper. Nothing concrete has happened so far.” A farmer of Chilora village, Gopi Chaudhary, said barbed-wire fences to block the entry of stray was not a solution as he only recently buried three cows who starved to death. Farmers said the state government should come up with a pragmatic scheme to tackle the problem.
BRAJ MENACE
Although stray cattle menace in Braj region, comprising Agra, Mathura and districts of Aligarh division, is among the worst, no major cattle-catching drive was carried out in Agra on Thursday.