Pigs cause accidents, fight stray dogs in Madurai city

MADURAI: Residents of certain wards in Madurai east and north zones are a harried lot, thanks to the increasing number of pigs in the streets and the accidents caused by them. They say these are reared and let out by people who don’t have enough space in their farm. Councillors have raised several complaints to mayor Indrani Ponvsanth at grievance meetings and corporation council meetings but to no avail.
A Ramaiah, president of Muneeswara Nagar residents’ association, says they can’t walk on the street safely as more than 10 pigs are seen every time, especially early in the morning. “Sometimes they fight with stray dogs and once in a month two or three of them get killed. Children are scared to venture out alone,” he said.
Ward 6 councillor B Palselvi said residents fear having health problems because of the increasing number of pigs in the area. “These animals mostly stay in sewage canals and bushes in the afternoon. They rush to the streets early in the morning and at night to have the food kept for cows,” she said. The councillor said she has instructed residents not to keep food for any animals outside their house. Those who rear these animals feed them at vacant residential plots in Gandhi street, mostly with food waste from nearby wedding halls, she added.
Since the corporation workers are finding it difficult to catch the pigs, Madurai corporation should assign an agency as in Trichy and Tirunelveli to do the job, said Madurai north zonal chairperson Saravana Bhuvaneshwari. S Vasuki of Madurai east said there are more than 300 pigs in her zone and corporation sanitation workers are not trained to catch them. It took hours to catch five or six in a single street.
A corporation official said on condition of anonymity that people who rear pigs have threatened sanitation workers who go to catch them. A police official is accompanying them now. Around 80 pigs were impounded in the last six months . These are again left on the outskirts of the city, said the official. Corporation commissioner Simranjeet Singh Kahlon said they are planning to give tender to a contractor to catch the pigs.