Greater Chennai Corporation teams to impound stray cattle from tomorrow

Special teams to patrol arterial roads, bus routes and congested streets

January 23, 2022 02:20 am | Updated 02:20 am IST - CHENNAI

Bovine parade:  Stray cattle walking on the busy Kamarajar Salai amid peak hour traffic in Chennai.

Bovine parade: Stray cattle walking on the busy Kamarajar Salai amid peak hour traffic in Chennai.

Starting Monday, special teams of the Greater Chennai Corporation will patrol the roads where accidents were caused frequently by stray cattle.

Arterial roads, bus routes and congested streets in areas such as Villivakkam, Anna Nagar, Triplicane and Koyambedu have been identified for the first phase of the patrolling by the vehicles of the special teams that will round up stray cattle.

Following a meeting on Saturday, senior officials of the Corporation directed veterinary staff to impound stray cattle and ensure humane treatment to them.

“Most of the complaints about stray cattle have been reported in Royapuram, Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar, Teynampet and Kodambakkam zones. Vehicles will patrol roads from 8 a.m. to catch stray cattle,” said an official of the Corporation. According to estimates of the civic body, the 15 zones of the city have 20,000 head of cattle. Many of the animals have been found straying on the road, causing fatal accidents.

Motorists have complained about stray cattle on roads such as Kamarajar Salai, Walajah Road, Barathi Salai, Triplicane High Road and Kaliammankoil Street in Koyambedu. Highway stretches such as Poonamallee High Road in Aminjikarai, Koyambedu and Maduravoyal have reported a large number of stray cattle during rush hour, disrupting traffic.

The Corporation’s veterinary officials, who participated in the meeting, stressed on the need for exploring the option of banning cattle in specific areas of the city where frequent accidents have been reported. Senior officials rejected the idea. Instead, the patrol of roads to impound cattle will be improved during rush hour, with support from the police.

Officials stressed on the need for replacing old vehicles for impounding cattle, expanding the fleet of vehicles and increasing manpower.

The conservancy inspectors and sanitary inspectors are likely to support the cattle raids.

The owner of the animal which has been impounded will have to pay ₹1,550 for three days. The animals that are not claimed by owners would be handed over to the Blue Cross, officials said.

A total of 65 cattle catchers and 15 vehicles will be part of the teams that patrol the roads.

Raids were conducted at 1,320 locations last year to impound cattle. The civic body has appealed to motorists to call helpline 1913 to complaint about stray cattle on the roads.

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