With the increasing cattle menace in the towns and villages, the municipalities and panchayats have passed a resolution of impounding the abandoned cattle and keeping the strays into a compound but they have failed to implement this resolution.
Not only the towns but the problem has now reached the coastal belt of Goa. Compared to south, almost every tourist coming to Goa visits the beaches of north Goa. But is the government and other authorities providing proper services to the tourists?, ask sources. Leaving aside the toilets and changing room facility, the authorities are also failing to provide free and safe environment to the tourists who prefer walking on the beaches.
The stray cattle menace issue is not only haunting the town roads but it is on rise on the coastal belt of North Goa especially in Anjuna, Vagator, Morjim and Arambol beach. According to sources every panchayat has passed a resolution of impounding the stray cattle but have failed in their promise.
Leaving aside few panchayats such as Anjuna-Caisua, many other panchayats do not have their own cattle pound and the abandoned cattle have now started frequenting the beaches causing inconvenience to people visiting the beaches to spend their time.
Speaking to Herald, a local Lobo from Arambol said, “Many times this issue has been raised in the village gram sabha and representations via letters have been made to the concerned authorities seeking help but all their efforts have fallen on deaf ears.”
Another local Mahesh Naik said, “Since these animals are left free, they loiter around in the village as well as on the beaches. They also enter into shops and eat things like fruits and vegetables kept for selling.”
Sources said these animals are abandoned by the local people as they are no longer into agriculture and find no use of the animals.
Every household, a source said, will have at least one animal loitering around freely and this number is always on the rise.
These strays not only prefer to lie down on the middle of the road, but also stroll on the beaches, destroying the peaceful environment, says a local from Arambol and added that the animals mostly follow the people carrying food.
The abandoned cattle along with the stray dogs are constantly in search of food and follow the visitors who will feed them only to get rid of them, say villagers from Vagator.
“Panchayats should keep a check on the beaches every day and every panchayat should deploy staff to drive the cattle away from the beach. Not only the panchayat but also the locals who are daily visitors should take the initiative and drive these strays from the beaches, said another local from Arambol.
Speaking to Herald, Sarpanch of Anjuna Caisua Panchayat Savio Almeida, said, “There are no abandoned cattle in Goa. Every cattle has an owner but these owners claim their ownership only at the time of demanding money when a car or bike hits the cattle. The Anjuna Caisua Panchayat already has a cattle pound but we do not have a pond keeper to take care of the impounded cattle. We have published several advertisements but till now have not received any response. Now we will be making a letter to BDO regarding this issue”.
Almeida added,” Simultaneously we will also issue notices to all the residents of Anjuna Caisua requesting the people not to leave their cattle on the beaches. Instead of blaming the sarpanch and panchayat, the concerned ward members should also do their duty.”
