Road to cattle-free city meets dead end

To check the stray cattle menace on the city roads,Vadodara Initiative had come up with the plan to shift cattle to Khatamba and develop a system where members of the cooperative society would take care of the animals and also provide them with veterinary services. But this failed to materialise as the owners were not confident about the kind of treatment their animals would be getting there. Also,they were not happy after their demand to construct houses for their families there were declined by the district administration.

Nilesh Shukla,member of Vadodara Initiative,said,“We don’t have any new plan to deal with this issue as the matter has now reached a dead end. We felt that the administration was not assertive in dealing with the owners.”

On their part,Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) officials expressed helplessness,citing limited resources and manpower.

“The blame always comes on us as if we are the sole responsible agency to check the stray cattle menace. If we go by the government rules,it is the job of the police to handle this issue and we are only a helping hand. But it is portrayed across the state that the civic body is responsible for impounding stray cattle,” said an official involved in VMC’s cattle impounding drives.

“We have limited resources and manpower to handle this ‘risky’ business as our staffers are frequently threatened by the cattle owners. If the problem is to be solved,all three agencies — police,district administration and VMC staff — will have to work hand-in-hand,” added the official.