Auctioning unclaimed milch animals? AMC tables policy

AHMEDABAD: A new policy to control stray cattle and prevent overcrowding of existing municipal cattle pounds will now authorize the civic body to “auction” unclaimed milch cows and “gift” oxen and calves to needy farmers “for free”. In road accidents involving stray cattle, the cattle owner will have to pay compensation for injury or death as decided by the municipal commissioner.
The new cattle nuisance control policy 2023 has been formulated under the state government’s public health bylaws, 2012, and has been tabled before the standing committee of the AMC for approval. The policy will also allow the civic body to register police cases against owners who follow CNCD vehicles on their bikes.

The AMC calculated that some 50 to 60 stray cattle are caught by the cattle nuisance control department (CNCD) daily. Of these, 5 to 10 owners return to claim the seized cattle. The remaining animals are kept in cattle shelters. The existing stray cattle pounds have a capacity of 3,600 animals. The AMC has also provided land on the city’s outskirts to construct a new cattle pound.
The new CNCD policy also makes it mandatory for the pastoralist community to own land to keep their cattle. Otherwise, these animals will be seized and sent to the municipal cattle pound outside the city limits.
“The same principle applies to those buying bovines, and they will have to show they own adequate land to keep them,” says a senior AMC official in the CNCD department. The new policy also requires cattle owners to pay a Rs 2,000 licence fee and a permit fee of Rs 500 per animal, renewable every three years. An RFID tag for every animal is mandatory.
“The policy requires cattle owners to take approval from the municipal commissioner before bringing them into the city,” adds a senior AMC official. The policy bans the sale of grass/hay or feeding cattle on footpaths in the city.