Expressing concern over the menace of stray cattle in the Capital in view of the upcoming Commonwealth Games, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has decided to deploy 15 special teams in various parts of the city from September 1. The special teams will be in addition to the zonal teams already working there. Furthermore, the civic body has also purchased 13 new hydraulic cattle catching trucks to aid its efforts.
The matter was also discussed in detail at the meeting of the MCD Standing Committee on Wednesday. The 15 special cattle catching teams will be operating in seven municipal zones -- Central, South, City, Sadar Paharganj, Karol Bagh, Civil Lines and Shahdara (South).
According to a factsheet provided by the MCD, it has lifted 5,025 stray animals from roads in 2010-11. The figure was 13,898 in 2009-10, 18,830 in 2008-09 and 12,851 in 2007-08. It also said that there are 2,361 illegal dairies in the city. Civic body officials claimed that the Ghogha Dairy site, where illegal dairies were to be shifted following a court order, has all infrastructural facilities but the MCD was yet to shift the dairies there .
According to MCD Commissioner K. S. Mehra, the civic body has developed 2,080 plots at Ghogha Dairy, 945 of which have been distributed and 245 dairy owners have also taken possession. “However, dairies could not be shifted there due to lack of water supply. The DJB has promised to supply water by the year-end when its Bawana treatment plant will be ready. As a temporary measure, the MCD has built an underground reservoir there and the DJB has assured supply of drinking water through tankers,” he added.
However, most of the councillors felt the Ghogha Dairy project which has been pending for years is riddled with problems and that zone-wise planning should be undertaken for shifting of dairies rather than shifting all of them to Ghogha. Leader of Opposition J.K.Sharma said: "The stray cattle issue has become a serious problem and should be addressed before the Games. However, according to reports, the cow shelters where stray cattle are sent do not have enough space nor are they getting grant from the MCD.”
Mr. Mehra and Additional Commissioner Janak Digal, however, assured the members that there was no problem of space in the shelters and the pending grant was being released. The Commissioner also cited a court order against the rule to give licence to people in urban areas for keeping animals in their houses. “If a proposal to ban keeping of animals in houses in urban areas is cleared, the problem of stray cattle can be resolved,” he added.
