Stray bull attack kills trader on stroll, Lucknow civic body says not its jurisdiction

LUCKNOW: A 45-year-old man who was recently attacked by a bull in Vrindavan Colony succumbed to his injuries in hospital on Monday, underscoring the threat stray animals, including cattle, pose to residents of the city.

The death of trader Manoj Pal is the fifth reported incident of man-animal conflict in Lucknow. There are several others that take place daily, but go unreported possibly because the degree of injuries is less.



Pal, who lived with his wife and four children in Sector 5 of Vrindavan Colony, was taking a routine stroll after dinner on Sunday when he was attacked from behind near SGPGI. He fell on the road and received head injuries. He was taken to a nearby private hospital, but died during treatment.

Station house officer of SGPGI police station Ashok Gautam said the body had been sent for post-mortem. “We are investigating the case,” he added.

When TOI visited Vrindavan Colony on Tuesday, it was swamped with complaints about how stray animals, particularly cattle, had made life difficult for residents.

“Every time we lodge a complaint with the LMC (Lucknow Municipal Corporation), officials say the area does not come under the civic jurisdiction,” said Sushila Verma. Rani Singh, another resident, said very recently, an old man and his grandson were injured by two fighting bulls on the road.

TOI also visited Niralanagar, Kaiserbagh, Jankipuram, New Hyderabad and Yahiyaganj, where complaints were common.

Sumit Dixit, a resident of New Hyderabad, said: “Stray dogs chase vehicles at night, often causing accidents.”

Shobha Asthana of Niralanagar said the nuisance had increased owing to negligence of LMC authorities.

Municipal commissioner Indramani Tripathi told TOI that though Vrindavan Colony did not fall under LMC, a civic team would soon be sent to herd away stray cattle.

Stray animals have always been a bane for the city. Besides attacking people and leaving roads filthy, they often lead to traffic bottlenecks and accidents.

The government had in January directed the LMC to free the city of stray cattle in 100 days.

According to records, only 2,000 such bovine animals out of an estimated 6,000 have been caught and sent to shelters.

With inputs from Simran Mangalani, Sanchita Singh