Stray cattle menace haunts Cuttack residents

CUTTACK: Stray cattle on roads, streets and narrow lanes have become a common sight in the Millennium City. The menace has become a major headache for the residents, thanks to the negligence of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) which has failed to take any peventive steps despite Orissa High Court’s order.

The cattle roaming freely on the city roads are causing traffic snarls and accidents in Jobra, Chandni Chowk, Chandi Mandir Square, Barabati Stadium, Chhatra Bazaar, Chaudhury Bazaar, Buxi Bazaar, Badambadi and CDA. Even the busy streets at Nuapatna, Mangalabag, Ranihat, College Square and Junus Patna are not spared from the menace.

Advocate Dr Kanhayalal Sharma of Ranihat, who met with an accident due to stray cattle recently, said incident of bulls engaged in fighting on road is a regular affair in the area. Though no survey has been conducted by the civic body to know the exact number of stray cattle in the city, their number is increasing at fast pace in markets and residential areas, he alleged.

While residents attribute the rising menace to lack of enforcement activities, officials of CMC claimed to have been conducting the drive on a regular basis in this regard. However, lack of adequate cattle catching vehicles, manpower and kine houses is posing a hurdle. The civic body is conducting the enforcement with the help of five employees and an old vehicle purchased in 1999, sources said.

At present, there are two kine houses in the city at Buxi Bazaar and Sati Chaura. While the facility at Buxi Bazaar can accommodate 30 to 40 cattle, Sati Chaura remains unused due to broken boundary wall.

Additional Commissioner of CMC Suman Behera said a total fine of `3.7 lakh was collected from the owners by catching nearly 800 cows in 2018. Despite instructing cattle owners to keep their animals safe, they are repeatedly letting them out on roads leading to traffic congestion. Direction has been given for improvement of the infrastructure at Sati Chaura kine house, he added.