Despite collecting ₹31 crore as cow cess, Ludhiana MC fails to rein in stray cattle menace

Despite collecting around ₹31 crore as cow cess in the past five years, the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) has failed to find a solution for the stray cattle menace, which has resulted in multiple mishaps on city roads and even led to loss of lives.

Civic body officials cited the shortage of space to shelter the stray animals.They said over 1,500 stray cattle have been handed over to different gaushalas in and around the city and MC is paying for their upkeep, but they are also facing space crunch now.

MC has been collecting cow cess since 2017 and ₹30.95 crore was recovered as tax till May 31 this year. Officials stated that around ₹9 crore has been spent and the civic body still has ₹22 crore as reserve.

A civic body official, requesting anonymity, said MC had proposed the establishment of a cow shelter in Noorpur Bet area, but it had been scrapped. Now, officials are trying to enter agreements with a few other gaushalas in the city, but they are also running short of space.

As stray cattle/bulls can be seen roaming in posh residential areas of the city, including Model Town Extension and Sarabha Nagar, residents are also demanding that a concrete solution be found.

Ravneet Singh, a shopkeeper at Chaar Khamba Road in Model Town, said stray bulls also roam the market and shopkeepers are always fearful of an accident. “We have also seen in a number of videos on social networking platforms of stray cattle entering shops. MC should find a concrete solution for the problem as the commuters too constantly fear road accident, especially at night,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, MC joint commissioner Poonampreet Kaur said the civic body recently entered an agreement with a gaushala. “Currently, there is no available with MC to establish a cow shelter. But, different proposals are being explored to deal with the issue,” said Kaur.

Earlier, MC had proposed different projects to stop dairy farmers from leaving dry cows on city roads, but nothing has been done at the ground level. One proposal was to install chips, so that MC could find out from which dairy unit the cow was released.

In January, the civic body had initiated a project to tie reflective tapes around cattle roaming on city roads, but it has also come to a halt.

Past fatalities

On February 10, 2020, a Haryana-based banker died in a road mishap near Hardy’s World on NH-44 as his car overturned after hitting a road divider in a bid to avoid colliding with a stray animal.

On March 24, 2019, one Hardeep Singh, 32, died after his motorcycle collided with a stray animal in Koomkalan.