Residents raise concern over stray cattle in Noida as 55-year-old lands in hospital

Noida: Severely injured and just out of coma, for Jitendra Kumar merely fetching his morning milk supplies turned into a near fatal experience as the 55-year-old was rammed by stray cattle

Noida: Severely injured and just out of coma, for Jitendra Kumar merely fetching his morning milk supplies turned into a near fatal experience as the 55-year-old was rammed by stray cattle.

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According to the locals who rescued him, Kumar was run over by a spooked cow who came running from behind near the local dairy, a stone’s throw away from his rented apartment at Sector 22.

Doctors said the victim -- in coma when brought to the hospital – had seizure, multiple injuries in his ribs, clotting and head injuries, and had to be kept on ventilator for a day. While Kumar came out of coma on Monday and is now recovering, the concern of local residents is – “who will be the next victim?”

“It seemed the patient had a seizure right at the time of the cattle attack, besides multiple injuries and clots. We had to keep him on ventilator for some time. By the end of the day he was extubated but kept in ICU. Now he is recovering. This is not the first time that we have treated a person injured due to stray animals,” said Dr Akash Mishra, senior consultant neurosurgeon, Metro Hospital, Noida.

With over 2,000 stray cattle—oxen, bulls and cows – mostly discarded and a few ferals already living out in the open with nowhere to go, one can easily spot a herd at almost every sector, road nook and corner of the city.

“There are more than 100 stray cattle in Sector 22 alone, where I live,” said Moolchand Sharma, the victim’s landlord.

Noida authority officials had earlier stated that two more cow sheds had been planned to house and feed stray cattle.

The residents of different sectors said they feel scared due to the rising numbers or stray cows and oxen especially around local vegetable markets and souks.

“It is really very scary as numbers of stray cattle are multiplying quickly. Be it any road in Sector 74 to 77 and especially the vegetable market of Sector 77, it is very difficult to commute at times, and also threatening as the animals can attack you. It’s high time the Noida authority takes the issue seriously,” said Amit Gupta, city-based social activist and a resident of Sector 77.

According to the authority, there must be at least 2,000 stray cattle on roads of Noida alone, and they are developing infrastructure to cater to the same.

“The tendering process to build larger cowsheds had been done. The new infrastructure will have a capacity to hold 1,500 cows and 500 bulls or oxen,” said SC Mishra, project engineer (health), Noida authority.

Officials, however, point out abandonment as one of the major reasons for the rising number of stray cattle in the city.

“Only 10 out of 100 cows or cattle on the streets are feral. The remaining are either abandoned or left on roads after their utility ends,” Mishra added. When asked why action is not taken against such owners, the official said that they “tried and failed”.

“We had taken up drives in areas like Barola, Harola, Bhangel, Naya Bans and Nithari. However, locals, mostly owners, come armed with sticks and take the cattle back. What can be done with such stubbornness,” Mishra said.

Animal activists peg the number of bovines in the district to be around 5,000, based on the count of animals they fed during lockdown. The forest department, during their 2019 animal census, had noted at least 217 “feral cows” in the city – which are the second generation of bovines born to abandoned cattle on roads.

“Based on the number of bovines we have fed during the lockdown there must be at least 5,000 animals on the streets of Noida alone, including urban rural areas,” said Kaveri Rana, district head, People for Animal (PFA), adding that there’s a lag at the administration’s part.

According to experts, there is no data on fatalities or accidents caused due to stray cattle, and that ground work is needed to make the roads and cattle safe.

“This is such a big problem but everyone turns their eyes away. It’s the municipalities’ work to look for a solution. But the issue is that we have very little information to work this issue out, including no data on the number of accidents caused, leaving both human and cattle injured,” Rohit Baluja, President, Institute of Road Traffic Education.