Stray cattle have begun disrupting traffic in the city again, be it in the Palayam market area, on the busy Francis Road or Mavoor Road.
The Kozhikode Corporation had launched a programme to impound stray cattle in June, 2016. It was successful and the corporation had earned around Rs.85,000 through the sale of cattle and by way of fine. There were even night squads to impound the cattle. But the situation is now back to square one.
Hordes of cows and goats can be found in Palayam, where the traffic is usually heavy. They feed on the vegetable waste dumped by vendors. There have been complaints that some owners deliberately let out their cattle astray in the market.
K.V. Baburaj, Health Standing Committee Chairman of the corporation, told The Hindu that the drive against the cattle menace had to be temporarily discontinued because of the shortage of veterinary doctors. “A veterinarian has to determine the value of the animals before they are auctioned. But now there is a shortage of doctors in the department,” he said.
The corporation had plans to restart the programme soon, he added. The local body has directed health inspectors to form new squads to impound stray cattle. “We are planning to make optimum use of the available resources,” he said when asked about the availability of doctors.
The absence of a proper pound to keep the cattle is also an issue. The cattle impounded by the squads are now kept on the Mayor Bhavan premises.
