Roads of Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai unsafe as stray cattle return to roads

Stray cattle menace, which rears its head during the rainy and winter seasons, leading to fatal accidents, has returned to the streets of Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai.

Since the soil is wet or at least moist during the two seasons, domestic cattle that are not taken care of by dairy farmers roam on the streets and settle down on the damp surface in the night in herds. The animals become ‘mobile speed-breakers’, causing accidents in the night as bike riders are unable to reduce the speed of their two-wheelers after catching sight of the animals at close quarters.

Since the animals are not taken for grazing during the day also, the cows and bulls roam on even busy roads to cause accidents and also attack passers-by.

“Feeding and taking care of the ‘dry cows’, which do not give milk do not generate any revenue for the owners, become an expensive affair. They do not keep the animals in their cowsheds. So, the animals wander along the roads to cause accidents. Since the Corporation, which has the bounden duty of controlling this menace, is yet to take any action, people are looking up to the urban civic body to put an end to this problem,” says N. Thangamariappan of Palayamkottai, who suffered a fracture in a bike accident caused by stray cattle in 2018.

In another incident, an assistant engineer of the Public Works Department was going to Vaeinthaankulam new bus stand on his bike a few years ago from his office near the District Collector’s Bungalow, when a stray cattle herd suddenly started running helter skelter and hit his two-wheeler. He suffered head injury and was admitted in a private hospital in Kulavanigarpuram, where he died after being in coma for three days.

“We lost a knowledgeable engineer to this unfortunate fatal accident,” recalls a senior engineer of PWD, who was his colleague.

When the Corporation impounded the stray cattle and slapped fine on owners for releasing the confiscated domestic animals, it triggered a big hue and cry. A section of BJP functionaries went on to add a religious angle to the issue, saying the impounded animals were not fed properly. And their protest and forcible freeing of the detained animals led to registration of a case and arrest of some of them.

“We do not have manpower for impounding the stray cattle, which is a life-threatening exercise,” said a senior Corporation official.

However, Corporation Commissioner Monika Rana said she would look into the serious issue immediately.