The stray cattle menace continues to exist in Siolim village. The initial days of lockdown gave more freedom to the stray cattle to squat on the Goan roads due to less vehicles hence helped our motor accident death records look much better. But with life returning to normal, more vehicles and speedy driving aided by the stray cattle squatting on Goan potholed roads, this year’s World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims will surely be the same like last year.
Repeated assurance from the local panchayat that a Memorandum of understanding is signed to allow a NGO in Siolim to pick up the stray cattle that freely roam the busy roads of Siolim has not taken off.
The Department of Animal of Husbandry through which the scheme operates has not given permission to operate this scheme in the jurisdiction of VP Siolim-Marna. The panchayat will now have to look out for another NGO to pick up stray cattle in Siolim, that cause traffic jams and accidents on the road. Will the government and authorities look into the situation by creating the “Mission Stray Cattle” in Goa.
I hope the Hon’ble High Court of Bombay will review its order to check on how many panchayats have honoured its order on cattle pounds as per the Panchayat Raj Act 112. The government has been given a free hand to utilise the money from the Disaster Management Funds by declaring stray cattle and potholed roads as an epidemic in the State of Goa.
