I would like to thank your esteemed daily as after I published my letter in the Citizens Herald regarding the stray cattle nuisance in the village panchayat of Sodiem-Siolim, the matter came up before the gram sabha and the panchayat body headed by Sarpanch Deepa Naik passed a resolution to immediately impound the strays and send them to the gaushala. The matter was expedited after it was brought to the notice of the chair that the strays were either killed by reckless vehicles speeding at night and on many occasions, bike riders had lost their lives after banging into the bovines at night.
One ambulance driver also complained that precious lives were lost after they had to get down to drive away strays squatting in the middle of the road. Since November 17, over 70 animals have been lifted and shifted to the gaushala providing much relief to the villagers. Kudos to the panchayat headed by sarpanch Deepa Penekar who personally supervised the entire operation along with Secretary Navanya Goltekar despite stiff opposition from certain quarters. The two brave women stood their ground and did what no one had ever dared to do for over decades. One can now travel in peace and we hope that the rest of the animals will be impounded soon.
