Kin of mishap victims await justice

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 19

Those families which lose their bread earners due to the stray cattle menace in Chandigarh have got no adequate relief or compensation from the authorities concerned.

However, the cattle menace still continues especially in southern sectors. Officials show helplessness as cattle owners from neighbouring towns leave their sick cattle on the Chandigarh border.

The families Chandigarh Tribune spoke to are aghast at the apathy of the authorities as they have been given assurance and nothing else.

“I lost my two sons in road accidents. One of them died after a cattle came in front of his two-wheeler. An advocate had assured us to fight the case in the local court but after a few years, he disappeared. We hoped the Municipal Corporation could have helped us in this regard as it is their responsibility to tackle the problem,” rued victim Avinash Kumar’s father Narender Kumar, a resident of Sector 49.

He puts up a rehri to run his family’s livelihood. A distressed Avinash’s wife has demanded a job from the MC.

Gurpreet Kaur, wife of another stray cattle victim Harpreet Singh Sodhi, a resident of Sector 45-C, is facing tough times ever since her husband passed away.

“My daughter was sent to the house of her maternal grandparents, who are bringing her up. Younger son is being brought up by me. I had started a beauty parlour at home to get some income, but it is not doing well. I wanted a suitable job in the MC, but all I got was lame assurances. The only thing the corporation offered was Rs 1.5 lakh insurance to my son,” shared Gurpreet with tears in her eyes.

Whereas, a visit to Sectors 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52 and 61 during night hours showed that stray cattle roam freely on roads, posing a major risk to motorists. Injuries in accidents due to this often go unreported.

The civic body claimed to have caught around 3,200 stray cattle from roads and have recovered Rs 20 lakh challan amount in the past years, but it seemed to have little effect on the ground.

Its gaushalas and cattle pounds are overcrowded too.

“It is a vicious circle. We catch the stray cattle during our regular drives, but the owners from neighbouring towns leave their sick cattle and those which did not give milk on the Chandigarh border. Our ponds and gaushalas are already full to their capacity,” rued an MC official.

MC’s Additional Commissioner Saurabh Mishra, said: “There are no recent stray cattle death cases in my knowledge, but I will get it checked. However, our drive against the stray cattle is going on effectively.”

Former mayor and city Congress chief Pardeep Chhabra, said: “In 2003, we started sending cattle to gaushalas in UP and Punjab. It helped us to reduce the burden on local gaushalas which are already overcrowded. There needs to be effective late-night checkings and supervision and a coordinated meeting with other neighbouring states to curb the peril.”

Fact file

• 2016-17: Total cattle caught: 1,601, 624 cattle were released after paying challan, rest are in gaushalas. Challan amount recovered: Over Rs 9 lakh
• 2017-18:  1,798 caught, 715 got released. Challan amount recovered: Over Rs 11 lakh

Past incidents

• April 6, 2013: Thirty three-year-old Harpreet Singh Sodhi, a resident of Sector 45-C, was killed when the motorcycle he was riding on hit a stray cattle on the road separating Sectors 49 and 46.
• August 16, 2013: 26-year-old Avinash Kumar, who was on his way back home on a motorcycle, rammed into a stray cattle on August 16 around 10.45 pm near Sector 45. Later, he succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.
• August 17, 2013: Atma Ram, a resident of Sector 46-A, who was working as a cook at a mess in Hallo Majra, met with an accident after his scooter hit a stray cattle near the Sector 31/32/46/47 roundabout on the night of August 17. He succumbed to his injuries on August 22 at the GMCH-32.
• There are several other stray cattle related accidents which have gone unreported.