Cuncolim
No solution to stray cattle menace as authorities indulge in blame game
For commuters in these parts of Goa, the sight of stray cattle brings back nightmarish experiences. Some have met accidents and escaped with minor injuries. There are others who lost their lives and their families were left to pick up the pieces after being dealt with an irreparable loss of a loved one. Unfortunately, despite such incidents, this is a common sight in the major and internal roads of Cuncolim as well as the surrounding areas such as Assolna, Chinchinim, Velim, Balli, Fatorpa, Quepem, Barcem, Paddi, Fatorpa etc.
What is scary is how the
stray cattle sit across the National Highway 17, right from Dandewado to Paddi,
at night.
This poses a danger to
commuters who sometimes spot them too late or are forced to halt and find a way
through the herd. Locals have blamed the government and local self-governing
bodies for failing to tackle the situation.
Criticism has been
levelled against the owners many times the owners have left their cattle. There
are also cases where the owners claim that their cattle left the shed, went
roaming and never came back.
Locals also point out
that the High Court had taken cognizance of the stray cattle menace and had
instructed all governing bodies to take strict measures and set up cattle
pounds and appoint pound keepers.
While on paper there
might be such proposals and pound keepers that have been identified but in
reality the situation is at it is.
Civid bodies when
contacted said it is difficult for them to catch the stray cattle and hence
they have put pound keepers on duty. They also said the owners of the stray
cattle should also come forward and take back their cattle. Locals however are fed up with the blame game
and fear that it will take another fatal accident before the authorities get
their act together.
Ponda
Dependence reduced as machines being used for traditional farming like tilling of soil: Locals
Similar to the complaints from other areas, Ponda too has a stray cattle menace and there appears to be no solution in sight. What can be seen is herd of stray cows and buffaloes at places like Ponda, Marcaim, Kavlem, Bandora, Farmagudi circle, Tisk junction, Marcaim, Kavlem, Priol,Shiroda and various market areas. These include young calves.
They are seen either
walking in the middle of the road or sitting down on the road, creating
problems for traffic and leading to accidents.
Despite the directions issued by the court, there are no cattle pounds
in Ponda. A section of society questioned the NGOs and some Gau raksha who
otherwise raise their voice against slaughtering of cattle at Goa Meat Complex
Usgao but do not come forward to provide shelter and food to the stray cattle.
There have also been
several incidents where the cattle have suffered injuries following a collision
with oncoming vehicles and it takes hours before any one comes forward to help
the cattle. There have also been cases where the cattle are suffering from foot
and other diseases and are moving helplessly. Likewise there are cattle who
roam around in search of food and are often seen eating from places along the
road side where garbage is dumped.
While the blame has also
been put on owners, sources pointed out that the cow sheds of these owners,
have been converted into rooms for residential or renting purpose.
Another major reason for
the increase in the presence of stray cattle has been attributed to the drop in
traditional farming activity. Earlier, farmers used to rear cattle for
agriculture purposes such as ploughing their fields but now with the use of
machinery for tilling of the soil, farmers don’t use cattle as much. The number
of farmers in dairy business has also dropped.
Pernem
Stray cattle a common sight across on roads in the coastal belt
With no permanent place
to settle down, the presence of abandoned cattle loitering around on the roads
of Pernem has become a nightmare to commuters.
Not only the Pernem town
but the issue is haunting the people in coastal belt as well as on national
highway where the cattle walk freely on the middle of the road, stand and even
sit in middle of the highway causing inconvenience to vehicles commuting on the
highway.
People on coastal belt
of Pernem including Armabol, Mandrem and Morjim have been witnessing same issue
with cattle, especially at night, as it becomes difficult for commuters to spot
the cattle and this sometimes leads to accidents.
Bardez
Always a problem for commuters with
stray cattle on roads
Stray cattle can be seen squatting and standing on middle of the road in different parts of Bardez taluka, the coastal belt and especially in Mapusa constituency.
With cattle occupying
space in the middle of the road, it has become difficult and dangerous for commuters,
especially motorists to travel safely especially in the evening when people
leave their offices to reach back home.
Sometimes, the motorists
face difficulty crossing through the herd, as the stray cattle move and run
around anyhow, leading to the possibility of a collision with the vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Mapusa Municipal
Council had recently impounded over hundreds of stray cattle and shifted to the
Gau Shala located in Mayem.
Bicholim
Municipalities taking some initiative to catch stray cattle but p’yats lagging behind
The stray cattle menace in Bicholim has become a nuisance for the people with the authorities doing very little to control the same.
The two municipalities in the taluka seem to
be taking some initiatives to curb this menace but there seem to be very little
efforts that are being taken by the panchayats in this regard.
The Bicholim Municipal Council (BMC)
had decided to take the matter of cattle nuisances seriously with the decision
to impound the cattle seen on the road.
In January 2020, the BMC had decided to
impound the cattle and send them to a Gau Shala
at Shikeri in Mayem. In spite of all the efforts, there are many stray cattle
still seen in the town.
The BMC had earlier also impounded the cattle
and kept them near the garbage treatment site but there was a hue and cry over
the action as the cattle started feeding on the waste and plastic from the site.
There were earlier some issues in impounding the cattle and sending them to the
Gau Shala, which had no financial backing to feed the cattle given to
them.
The people in Bicholim have been crying foul
over the issue.
The situation is almost similar in Sanquelim.
Last week the Chief Officer of the Sanquelim
Municipal Council (SMC), Pravijnjay Pandit took a special initiative and
rounded up most of the stray cattle and sent them to Shikeri Mayem.
“Stray cattle is a major problem in the city.
Earlier, the BMC also blamed the surrounding villages for the menace but now
they cannot just ignore the situation,” said Gauri Chodankar from Bicholim.
The situation in several panchayats is worse
as they have not tied up with any agency to curb the menace and they do not
even have the required fund to manage the stray cattle.
“Almost every month there is an incident in
Mulgao roads where an animal gets killed and even the owner does not come to
forward to claim them,” said Uday Parab from Mulgao.
Similar is the case with most of the
panchayats where the cattle are left free, which leads to accidents, especially
during night.
Sanguem
Hardly any space for vehicles to pass through,
say locals
With no control from the
authorities, the motorists all along the Curchorem to Sanguem route are
made to risk their lives on a daily basis, given the increasing number of
cattle on the busy road. Since the past many days, a large number of stray
cattle have been seen occupying the areas near Cacora ITI, Sanguem Court and
Dando during the day and night. This gives a time tough to the commuters, particularly
the two-wheeler riders in negotiating their way across the road without coming
in contact with the stray cattle.
The worst hit is the stretch from Kharkhatiaghati to Cacora ITI which at times
is found to be full of stray cattle and locals find no respite from the
authorities either who have shown no concern whatsoever.
And in the absence of adequate
illumination at night along with poor visibility, it’s a safety hazard for
commuters.
Incidentally while the municipalities
were earlier using the services of cattle pound keeper to drive the stray
cattle, the situation now seems to be different with the stray cattle being
given a free hand to occupy the roads at their leisure risking the live of the
motorist.
A similar situation also exists on the road proceeding to Uguem
from Bhati, which is largely occupied by stray cattle during night time and
early morning hours.
MORMUGAO
Plans and money is there but no infrastructure been created yet to tackle stray cattle menace
With crores of rupees in the coffers of
Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC), the council for several years failed to
build a shed for stray cattle and put a mechanism in place to
impound stray cattle which caused great inconvenience to the local
people.
For instance, one can often see stray cattle
standing on the road in Vasco near the vegetable market. That is the scene in
others parts of Mormugao as well.
When contacted, city councilor Krishna
(Daji) Salkar informed that a few months ago a proposal was put forward to
build cattle shed, but till date nothing has happened in this
direction.
He further said that it is true that many people see stray cattle on the roads. The municipality has failed to tackle this issue and has not shown any enthusiasm as usual to solve the issue. “Our municipality has got the funds from the 14th Finance Commission scheme. We in fact could have purchased a piece of land and build one cattle shed and it could have been easily managed with the help of any NGO working in the field on animal rescue but that political will to do something for the people is lacking I feel" he added.
Another councillor Nilesh Navelkar is of the
opinion that the management of stray cattle has not worked out in the port
town, as a result of which, the number of stray cattle on the roads are
increasing day by day.
He revealed that as per his knowledge one NGO had approached former the municipal Chief Officer for stray cattle management from Vasco municipal area, wherein they needed approval. Navelkar further stated that the Chief Officer had later got the approval sanctioned for them, but at present the mismanagement and growing number of stray cattle are visible on the roads. He also pointed out that if the NGO is receiving any funds from the government to manage stray cattle from the port town, then an inquiry needs to be done given the failure in its implementation as there are still a lot of stray cattle on the roads.
MARGAO
Concerns raised over stray cattle
eating garbage dumped on roadside
The failure of the government to stop
dumping of garbage on roadsides has resulted in several stray cattle gathering
to scavenge on the garbage. This has raised concerns about the damage that is
being caused to the health of these stray cattle given what they have been
consuming.
Notwithstanding the fines for dumping
garbage in the open and the fact that municipality is supposed to look into
this, there are several black spots across the areas in the municipal
jurisdiction, which covers Margao, Fatorda and parts of Curtorim.
Heaps of garbage is found dumped on
the main road and bypasses around Margao town as well by unknown persons.
This has been blamed for the presence
of stray cattle and even stray dogs that come near these dumping sites in
search of food.
This has also created major problems
for commuters as stray cattle at times are found in the middle of busy roads
and refuse to budge, halting traffic movement in the town.
Outside Margao, at surrounding places
like Davorlim, there have been similar problems.
Local resident Sahil Naik said that
people have been dumping garbage on the road side in order to escape having to
segregate their garbage at home and give it to the sanitation workers who
collect it at a monthly fee.
“This (the dumping of garbage) has
attracted the cattle, which create major mess at the junction near Maruti
Mandir" he added.
Recently, a four-wheeler tried to avoid
colliding into stray cattle and slammed into an electric police at Gogol. His
vehicle was totaled and damage was caused to public property. There have been
many similar incidents including situations where a stray cattle or buffalo
dies after an accident and it took a lot of time for the authorities to arrange
for it to be disposed of.
There are several NGOs who work for
the welfare of the bovines but mostly get called to take away dead cattle. The
mandate for every Panchayat and Municipality to have cattle sheds has not been
met with resulting in such type of road accidents.