Municipal Corporation’s parking site a home for stray cattle

Sukhmeet Bhasin

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Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 22

The Municipal Corporation’s parking site at old Government Elementary School building on the Mall road has turned into a home for stray cattle.

The condition is such that the place now has a pond and a large number of stray cattle can been quenching their thirst and making most of it.

Recently, when the Municipal Corporation had cleaned up this area and made it a parking lot; it was a great relief for the residents. They faced problems in parking their vehicle while coming to the market in the city, but this relief did not continue for long as the ground of the parking is uneven and is a home for stray cattle. Now, fearing the cattle, people do not park their vehicles here.

The Bathinda Development Authority had planned to construct a multi-level parking at this site, which it got vacated from the school under the Optimum Use of Vacant Government Land (OUVGL) Scheme, but this project has failed to take off.

A city resident, Prof NK Gosain, said: “Despite the tall claims of the administration about providing a proper parking system in the city, the residents are still facing the problem. In the absence of any sufficient parking space, especially in the busy markets, people have started parking their vehicles on the roads.” He said, “This problem can be solved to a large extent if this vacant land is used for the parking by the administration.”

Another resident Jaspal Sharma said people do not park their vehicles in this parking lot as there is no caretaker and many stray cattle reside at the parking site.”

Senior Deputy Mayor Tarsem Goyal said, “This parking space is a temporary arrangement to give relief to the public as five-storey parking is to come up here. The issue of stray cattle and water pond was not brought to our notice, but since it has been brought to our notice by tomorrow we will get the place cleared.”

A view of the Municipal Corporation’s parking lot turned into a home for stray cattle. photo: vijay kumar >>