Stray cows to be auctioned to decongest roads

GORAKHPUR: After failing to keep pace with the government’s deadline to control the stray cattle menace, the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation (GMC) has now decided to auction unclaimed cows if ownership is not claimed by February 5.

The increasing menace has prompted the civic body to issue a bidding notice in newspapers asking the owners of 26 abandoned bovines to turn up at the earliest. Nobody has turned up so far due to a hefty penalty of Rs 10,000 being imposed on those letting their cattle loose on streets.

In the last one month, GMC has fined 10 people for letting their livestock roam freely on roads disrupting traffic and posing a threat to the lives of people.

“This is for the first time that unclaimed cows will be auctioned with a minimum bidding amount of Rs 10,000. In case we get no buyers, all the cattle will be shifted to Maharjganj’s Gow Sadan,” said Sanjay Shukla, assistant municipal commissioner, Gorakhpur.

GMC has already failed to meet the deadline set by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to free the roads of stray cattle and shift them to shelter homes in 80 days. The corporation claims to have shifted 700 cows to Gow Sadan so far as there is no proper arrangement to keep them in Gorakhpur.

The construction of Kanha Sadan on the outskirts of the city is underway.