NHAI to set up shelters for stray cattle along highways to reduce accidents

New Delhi: The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Tuesday announced a pilot project to set up cattle shelters along the national highways to reduce accidents caused due to stray cattle.

The first such shelter will be built along the Kharkhoda Bypass on the UP/Haryana Border to Rohna on NH-334B. Similar shelters will come up along Bhiwani - Hansi section of NH-148B at Hansi Bypass, the Kiratpur - Nerchowk section of NH-21 and the Dangiyawas to Jajiwal section of the Jodhpur Ring Road on NH-112.

Under this initiative, the private contractors managing these stretches will build and maintain these shelters on land provided by NHAI. The contractors will also arrange first aid, adequate fodder, water, and caretakers to ensure the well-being of animals. For this, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by NHAI and Gawar Construction Ltd, the existing concessionaire on Tuesday.

NHAI in a statement said that beyond the construction and maintenance of shelters, the concessionaire will also ensure safe transportation of stray cattle to these facilities, provide food and enforce the provisions of the Cattle Trespass Act, 1871 for this pilot programme. To further support this initiative, the concessionaire under its CSR initiative will deploy cattle ambulances to transport and treat injured stray animals, setup first-aid centres and hospitals to cater 50 km on each side for timely medical care of these animals.

While there is no current data on the accidents caused by stray cattle, the numbers are rising prompting the Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh high courts to pull up authorities including NHAI. A 2020 livestock census has pegged the number of stray cattle at five million. The issue is most pronounced in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and the Delhi-NCR region as a result of the stringent cow slaughter ban enacted in several Indian states over the last decade.