Rather than bringing out an ordinance, the Karnataka government has decided to table a Bill to legalise kambala, the traditional buffalo race in coastal areas. The Bill will be tabled in the upcoming session of the State legislature.
According to T.B. Jayachandra, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, the Bill could be tabled in the session which will begin on February 6.
He said that the Department of Animal Husbandry had been directed to submit a proposal seeking legal status for conducting kambala.
The proposal would be discussed in the Cabinet and then tabled in the legislature session, Mr. Jayachandra said.
Clarifying that the government was in favour of the buffalo race, he said that kambala, a rural sport, was linked to the social and religious sentiments of the people. There was also a proposal to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to allow bullock cart race, a traditional sport of rural Karnataka.