Panchkula civic body needs to pull up socks

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, August 13

While the residents are finding it difficult to drive on Panchkula roads due to presence of stray cattle on roads, the Municipal Corporation has miserably failed to tackle stray cattle menace in city.

With all four cow shelters – one each in Mansa Devi Complex (MDC), Saketri, Kalka and Pinjore – full to capacity, the Panchkula Municipal Corporation has been struggling to accommodate the stray cattle, whose numbers are increasing every year.

The residents said on a number of occasions, the MC had proposed to build two more cow shelters but the project was yet to take off.

Not only stray cows and buffaloes, but also horses can be seen roaming on city roads causing inconvenience to pedestrians and motorists.

Last month, a senior citizen was attacked by a stray bull in Sector 2. The elderly had saved his life after hiding behind his car, which was parked inside his house.

A senior MC official said: “The problem is huge in Panchkula because nearby dairy owners and villagers leave their cows and buffaloes in the open during wee hours and take them back during evening hours. As cow shelters are full to their capacity, it is not easy to catch them”.

Panchkula Mayor Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia said they had passed an agenda for the construction of cow shelters in the MC House meeting, but nothing had been done by officials.

Proposal of radium strips gathering dust

The Panchkula Administration had proposed to tie radium reflector tapes or radium strips around the neck of cows, which will glow in the dark and provide long-distance visibility. The model has already been adopted in various other cities. The proposal, which was mooted in 2016, is yet to be implemented.