Cracking the whip on cattle owners who let their animals roam on the roads leading to accidents besides causing inconvenience to the public, the Machilipatnam Municipal Corporation has steeply increased the fine on violators to ₹2,000 a day from ₹5.
Municipal Commissioner S. Siva Ramakrishna told The Hindu that the new guideline came into force on November 1 and at least 500 notices had been served on the cattle owners who had violated it.
The tough measure became necessary as cattle owners continued to leave their cattle on the roads, despite the police recently seizing hundreds of animals found roaming during night time.
“The Department of Animal Husbandry has promised to take care of the seized cattle. Fine will be slapped on cattle owners based on the number of days the seized animals are kept in the rehabilitation centre,” said Mr. Rama Krishna.
The Animal Husbandry department has expressed its willingness to spare some area in the 40-acre Goshala site on the outskirts of Machilipatnam to set up a temporary cattle rehabilitation centre. “We will not cause any harm to the seized cattle but the owner cannot escape penalty,” said Mr. Rama Krishna.
