Thursday, 11 May 2023 | PURNIMA BISHT | DEHRADUN
Stray cattle in different parts of the State and provisional State capital are posing a threat to commuters on the roads. The bovines squatting on the roads can be seen in various parts of Dehradun that continue to be a threat to the travellers, especially for office goers and school students. Most of these bovines are cows and calves that appear to be belonging to nearby dairies who leave them after milking them in the morning. Such bovines can be seen in areas like Sahastradhara Road, Raipur Road, Sahastradhara Crossing, Tyagi Road, Race Course and Dalanwala among others.
A Sahstradhara road resident Piyusha Sharma said that she observes these cattle almost daily when she goes to drop her kids to school. She said, “I have to move my scooty very cautiously around these cattle when I go to drop my kids to school as anything can trigger animals to move abruptly. Sometimes they even fight on roads and people have no option but to wait for them to disperse or settle down again away from the road. If one goes to shoo them away they tend to attack them, especially when they are with their calves.”
A 16-year-old student Rishabh Singh said that one of his friends got injured last month after a cow ran after him when he tried to move two calves away on the Tapovan road which was blocking the traffic. He said, “I along with some friends usually go to school on foot during which we observe several cows on the road. Sometimes, bulls also attack two-wheeler riders and passerby. It is a complete traffic chaos on regular days which also occasionally turns into life threatening ventures.” Harish Prajapati, an office goer commuting via Sahastradhara Road said that he has observed bovines on several routes in the past two months. “My home is on Sahastradhara Road and my office is in the Race Course area. I at least find bovines gathered around on three routes every day when I go to the office. One can easily find bovines on Sahastradhara Road and Dalanwala areas after 7 AM almost every day. They appear clean and healthy that shows that they belong to dairies located nearby. These establishments are doing business and earning profits by leaving cows on roads so that they do not have to feed them throughout the day.
They are putting the lives of these animals as well as humans in danger.” It is questionable how authorities take no strict action against them for animal cruelty and putting people’s lives in danger, added Prajapati. However the municipal officials stated that the corporation is taking consistent action against cattle on roads across the city. This issue is more prevalent in some periurban areas Raipur, Sahastradhara Road and Premnagar where dairies operate in large numbers, said the senior municipal veterinary officer Dr DC Tiwari. He said, “In most of these areas, the dairy operators take away their bovines from roads when they get to know about our team. We have also warned several of them and have seized multiple cows which were later released with a warning after they deposited a penalty. Our teams have been frequently visiting different areas to act against such cattle. We are already feeding nearly 1,500 bovines in cow shelters. However, we will soon act strictly against people’s complaints in these areas too.”
