Thiruvananthapuram: The city corporation’s plan to shift the cows from the shelter owned by a private trust near Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple following HC order met with stiff political protests at Vilappilsala on Wednesday.
The corporation was about to face contempt of court proceedings in the case which forced health standing committee to devise a transportation plan to move the cows from the shelter to the site at Vilappilsala where a waste treatment plant (WtP) had previously functioned.
The entire operation was planned in secret and the committee christened the plan ‘Operation Kamadhenu’. The idea was to move the cows early in the morning to the vacant green spaces available at Vilappilsala. 35 cows were loaded onto five trucks and as soon as the team reached the gates of the WtP, political party members and residents raised protests. Health committee chairman I P Binu tried to reason with them saying that the trucks were not loaded with waste and they were only trying to provide a new shelter for the cows which were in bad shape due to mistreatment at the shelter.
The protesters didn’t budge and said that they wouldn’t let the vehicles enter the plant premises. This led to a stalemate and the team was stuck there for almost an hour, worsening the condition of the cows. Later it was decided that the cows shall be transported to a private farm at Kuttichal. There too, the corporation met with mild protests. The workers cleaned the farm and made space for the cows. They were watered to stay cool and were fed with grass and fodder. The private farm belonged to a local farmer who agreed to house the cows at a fixed rent of Rs 18,000 per month. As the cows were being unloaded one collapsed due to fatigue.
Binu said that the private farm has the facilities to house the cows and that corporation has deployed workers to take care of the cows. In 2019, minister for tourism and Devaswom Kadakampally Surendran had visited the shelter and said that the cows were being ill-treated.
The corporation was about to face contempt of court proceedings in the case which forced health standing committee to devise a transportation plan to move the cows from the shelter to the site at Vilappilsala where a waste treatment plant (WtP) had previously functioned.
The entire operation was planned in secret and the committee christened the plan ‘Operation Kamadhenu’. The idea was to move the cows early in the morning to the vacant green spaces available at Vilappilsala. 35 cows were loaded onto five trucks and as soon as the team reached the gates of the WtP, political party members and residents raised protests. Health committee chairman I P Binu tried to reason with them saying that the trucks were not loaded with waste and they were only trying to provide a new shelter for the cows which were in bad shape due to mistreatment at the shelter.
The protesters didn’t budge and said that they wouldn’t let the vehicles enter the plant premises. This led to a stalemate and the team was stuck there for almost an hour, worsening the condition of the cows. Later it was decided that the cows shall be transported to a private farm at Kuttichal. There too, the corporation met with mild protests. The workers cleaned the farm and made space for the cows. They were watered to stay cool and were fed with grass and fodder. The private farm belonged to a local farmer who agreed to house the cows at a fixed rent of Rs 18,000 per month. As the cows were being unloaded one collapsed due to fatigue.
Binu said that the private farm has the facilities to house the cows and that corporation has deployed workers to take care of the cows. In 2019, minister for tourism and Devaswom Kadakampally Surendran had visited the shelter and said that the cows were being ill-treated.
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