Delhi cow shelters already overburdened, MCD flags after SC’s stray cattle order

The four designated cow shelters in the city have a cumulative capacity to hold 19,838 stray cattle.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has flagged that the four designated cow shelters in the city are already burdened and might not be able to accommodate any more captured cows. The report was submitted in the house of councillors meeting on Thursday after the Supreme Court last week directed the removal of stray cattle from arterial roads.

There are 21,860 stray cattle currently being housed in these shelters. (HT Photo)

While hearing a case regarding stray dogs, the Supreme Court on November 7 directed the municipal authorities to ensure removal of stray cattle from arterial roads and highways, pertaining to directions issued by the Rajasthan High Court.

“Since the gaushalas (cow shelters) are already full and over capacity, there is a problem with keeping the cattle in captivity. It seems/appears that the captured cattle are returning,” the MCD report stated.

The four designated gaushalas in Delhi — Shri Krishna gaushala at Sultanpur Dabas, Dabar Hare Krishna gaushala in Surhera, Manav Gausadan at Rewla Khanpur and Gopal Gausadan in Harewali — have a cumulative capacity to hold 19,838 stray cattle. According to the MCD status report, there are 21,860 stray cattle currently being housed in these shelters.

Six official cow shelters were set up in the city in late 1990s- three each in Narela-Bawana and Najafgarh. While one unit was closed in the initial allotment phase, the second unit Acharya Sushil Muni Gaushala was closed down in 2018 due to mismanagement and high mortality of cows. MCD data shows that the Harevali shelter has 4,006 cows against the capacity of 3,270; Sultanpur-Dabas shelters has 8,668 cows against the capacity of 7,848 and Rewla Khanpur shelter has 4,593 cows against the capacity of 3,488 cows.

Under the current arrangement, the stray cattle in the city are caught by the veterinary department of the municipal corporations after which they are handed over to these cow-shelters approved by the animal husbandry department. For each stray cow at these sites, ₹40 per day is paid by MCD and government. The shelter operators have also been complaining about pending payments from municipal corporations and the rising operational costs.

A worker at a cow shelter said that the gaushalas are already overburdened and delay in release of funds for animal fodder further worsens the finances. “The daily support of ₹40 is too low for providing fodder to an animal. it should be revised and payment delays should be plugged.”

Ashok Bhasin, the president of a federation of North Delhi RWAs said that these are not stray animals but cows released by illegal dairy operators who work in connivance with the officials. “How do the dairy operators know when the enforcement teams take rounds in area? Most of the animals that are picked up are non milk producing or old sick cattle. Our entire north Delhi belt starting from Malkaganj, Ghantaghar, Kolhapur road, Roshanara road, Subzi mandi, Kamla Nehru Park suffers from stray cattle problem. There would be more than 50 cows at Ghantaghar every evening and they are milked by these dairy operators. Everything happens openly,” he added.

A decade and half ago, when a large-scale cow mortality crisis hit Delhi, a committee headed by former minister Ramakant Goswami was formed to overhaul the functioning of cow shelters in the city. It had made several key recommendations, including regular audit of accounts, formation of an oversight mechanism, advance funds be made available for maintaining fodder stocks for three months, and the participation of the public in management of shelters. However, none of these were ever implemented.