Bovines on the roads pose a big problem for the denizens in the land of Ongole bulls.
Persistent attempts by the civic authorities to rein in errant cattle owners who leave the animals on the streets right from dawn to fend for themselves has evoked inadequate response from them.
As a result, it proves to be a Herculean task for the motorists to drive through the narrow lanes and bylanes and avoid hitting the stray cattle which move around in search of vegetable waste and end up eating even discarded plastic covers, risking their lives.
As plethora of complaints keep pouring in on the menace, the Ongole Municipal Corporation (OMC) has launched a special drive in collaboration with the traffic police to free the city roads of cattle, including cows and buffaloes.
Even the arterial Trunk road and Kurnool Road had not be spared of the free run by the aggressive Ongole breed of cattle worshiped down the ages as the vehicle of Lord Siva and Kamadhenu (the heavenly cow) which bestows prosperity.
On an average, the authorities catch hold of straying cattle numbering about 100 every week on an average and leave them in the forests close to Giddalur in the western part of the drought-prone district, explains Municipal Commissioner S. Venkatakrishna.
"Almost 60 per cent of the problem has been addressed so far by us. The drive will be taken up on a continuous basis so that the city roads are completely freed of stray cattle in the next two to three months," he told The Hindu .
According to a survey, as many as 700 head of cattle roam on the streets, causing utter chaos and defeating the purpose of the automatic traffic signalling system put in place, observes Ongole Deputy Superintendent of Police(Traffic) J. Ram Babu. Besides causing traffic jams, the poor animals are often involved in mishaps, injuring themselves as well as the motorists, he says. ''We keep educating the cattle owners even while taking the extreme step of impounding the animals," he adds.
