Owners unwilling to relocate cattle to Mundhwa-Keshavnagar as land encroached upon
Sunita Pardeshi, a Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) commuter, said, “Cattle owners have tied their animals at the bus stop
Although the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has provided land for the relocation of cattle to Keshavnagar, cattle owners are continuing to use public spaces for keeping their cattle. For instance, some cattle owners are keeping their cattle on the footpath near the bus stop which is about 200 metres from the PMC main building. So much so that commuters have stopped using the bus stop due to the presence of cattle around it. While others are keeping their cattle near the Poona Hospital Bridge corner.
Sunita Pardeshi, a Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) commuter, said, “Cattle owners have tied their animals at the bus stop. Some cattle are kept right by the bus stop. This makes it hard for passengers to stand at the bus stop. The PMC should remove the cattle from there.”
Samir Gaikwad, a commuter, said, “How can this be a smart city if cattle stay on the footpath while pedestrians have no space to stand or walk? There is plenty of room for stray animals but no space for people.”
A PMPML bus driver said, “The bus stop is useless because we can’t stop there. Instead, we have to stop at a different location and call the passengers.”
Back in 1983, two sites at Mundhwa – Keshav Nagar were identified for cattle sheds with 171 plots at one site and 422 plots at the other site. The PMC standing committee approved these sites in 2015. One-hundred-and-twenty-two plots at one site and nine plots at the other site were allotted. In 2016, the standing committee decided to allocate the remaining 49 plots at the first site and 413 plots at the second site as well.
In January 2018, the then municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar decided to shift all cattle sheds in the city to Mundhwa – Keshav Nagar by the end of that year to prevent inconvenience caused to traffic. The relocation was contingent upon fulfilling certain conditions and paying rent. There are around 547 cattle sheds in the PMC jurisdiction. Incidentally, the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the PMC made a budgetary allocation to open cattle sheds in various parts of the city for cattle. Kumar also empowered PMC officials to close the cattle owners’ business in the event they failed to shift their cattle to Mundhwa – Keshav Nagar by the end of December 2018.
More than five years later, the relocation of cattle to Mundhwa – Keshav Nagar has all but ground to a halt as most of the area has been encroached upon, leaving no proper space for cattle sheds. Around 40 cattle owners had evinced interest in relocating their cattle to Mundhwa – Keshav Nagar but are now unwilling to relocate their cattle sheds due to the encroachments and uneven land. Their demand is that the plots be cleared first. In 2022, additional municipal commissioner Ravindra Binwade had directed the land and estate department along with local ward office officials to visit the site and create a plan after clearing encroachments. However, no progress has been made so far.
In order to relocate their cattle sheds, cattle owners have to submit an application seeking a plot to shift their cattle along with a photocopy of their ration card and details of existing cattle sheds including photograph and proof of the sheds’ existence before 2015. They are also required to submit the license received from the district milk development officer or affidavit submitted for the same, and a recommendation from the concerned ward officer.
Asked about the current predicament, Madhav Jagtap, head of the anti-encroachment department, said, “Normally, cattle owners keep their cattle in the riverbed. However due to flooding of rivers, cattle owners are keeping their cattle on the roadside. We have instructed officials to remove the cattle from the roadside.”
