06 Jul 2020  |   05:01am IST

Cattle menace on Mapusa and Siolim roads

Asmita Polji

MAPUSA: With no shelter in the rains, the stray cattle have once again started occupying the roads in Mapusa and Siolim by squatting and standing in the middle. 

Cattle can be seen squatting and standing in the middle of the road near Housing Board, Morod and Mapusa Gandhi Chowk area while at the theatre junction, church junction and Marna road in Siolim. 

Since these cattle occupy the middle part of the road to squat, it is causing inconvenience for the commuters especially the motorists in the evening to travel safely back home after their office job finish for the day.

Sometimes, the motorists face difficulty crossing through the herd as they move and run around anyhow and possibility of either being hit by the animals or colliding with them. 

Along with cattle, there are dogs that add to the problem which can be witnessed running around on the roads in search of food especially where the garbage is dumped. 

Nitin Naik, a daily commuter said, “Around 30 to 40 stray cattle occupy space in the middle of the road everyday at Mapusa Housing Board road. They sit in groups of 8 to 10 at different spots on the same road. Sometimes they even engage in fights with horns locked on in the middle of the road. This causes traffic jams and most of the time, they collide with the vehicles.”

Meanwhile, when contacted, Chairperson of Mapusa Municipal Council Ryan Braganza said, “We had picked up around 180 cattle months back. But in the last month I have also noticed the herds of cattle roaming around in municipal jurisdiction. The MMC has already signed an agreement with Gomantak Go Shala and in next one-and-half month, the stray cattle will be cleared from the Mapusa roads.”