VASCO: The Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) has failed to put in place the necessary mechanisms to tackle the stray cattle menace, despite having crores of rupees in its coffers.
While this has been a demand from locals especially commuters who are inconvenienced on a regular basis, MMC has not even built a cattle shed to impound the stray cattle.
Against this backdrop, Murgao Hindu Samaj (MHS), a socio-cultural organisation, has decided to try and find a solution to this issue.
When MMC Chairperson Nandadeep Raut was asked why the civic body hasn’t constructed a cattle shed as yet, he attributed the delay due to the non-availability of space.
Acknowledging that the shed could help them attend to multiple cases quickly, he said MMC has staff to impound the cattle but that they have also been given other duties.
“But whenever there are any accidents or injured cattle on the road, we send such cases to the NGO ‘People for Animal Welfare’ where they get medical assistance,” Raut added.
When contacted, the NGO, which is located in close proximity to the port town, said they provide medical treatment to the injured stray cattle for a day or two, following which, the ailing animals are sent to the Dhyan Foundation’s cattle shelter in Avedem.
Sources informed that the NGO also doesn’t have enough space to keep the stray cattle in large numbers and that in times of any emergency – they can keep a maximum of two to three animals with them.
Speaking on this issue, MMC councilor, Krishna (Daji) Salkar who is also a member of MHS, said that few months ago a proposal was put forward to build a cattle shed at Khariawado near the Hindu crematorium, but it was opposed by some councilors during the council meeting.
“After understanding the gravity of the issue, Murgao Hindu Samaj president Narayan (Nana) Bandekar and other group members decided to build a cattle shed. For that purpose, we have also identified a site at Gandhinagar and the paperwork and permissions with regards to this project have been forwarded to government authorities,” Salkar added.
Savio Correia, social activist from Vasco, opined that stray cattle menace has assumed alarming proportions resulting in several serious road accidents besides obstructing traffic flow along highways and arterial roads.
“I feel it reflects the abysmal failure of the municipal and panchayat authorities in the discharge of their duties. Most of these cattle are left loose by their owners to save on their feed. The stray cattle management scheme floated by the State government has proved to be ineffective due to lack of budgetary support,” said Correia.
He further mentioned that his inquiries reveal that the number of stray cattle in Goa is around 38,000, which is enormous considering Goa’s small size and road network. “It does not augur well for a State being promoted as a tourist destination. The Government must act quickly in the matter before the situation worsens and more human and animal lives are lost,” Correia pointed out.
Another citizen from Vasco, Peter Andrade said, “MMC has to decide whether it will act as a village panchayat or as a municipal council. The laws against stray cattle, dogs, pigs, goats etc are on paper while the over flowing garbage has turned out to be a free source of food for strays. It doesn’t seem that cattle’s rearing is being carried on as a family tradition in Vasco but some persons carry on the business for additional income. Implementing the laws looks similar to the saying, who will bell the cat.”
He also pointed out to the loopholes of the local governing body mentioning that open defecation free Vasco may be a reality one day but the defecation by stray cattle and other animals continues unabated.
“There were reports in Goa about riders slipping on cow dung, stray dogs attacking humans and goats destroying gardens and pigs spreading nuisance. Sometimes citizens wonder whether we live in a town or a village or whether we want to make the town into a village” he added.
