Cows, microchips and MCD

The civic body recently caught around 150 cows near some temples on the Yamuna belt, which angered local priests, reports HT Correspondent.

Stray cattle has put the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in a bind. The civic body recently caught around 150 cows near some temples on the Yamuna belt, which angered local priests who went on to register complaints with the higher authorities in the civic body.

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The priests apparently do not have licences to keep the cows. However, on the MCD legislative wing's insistence, veterinary department officials have agreed to release the cattle on the grounds that they were not being used for commercial purposes. "We have decided to return the cattle but these cows have already been micro-chipped and their records are on our website. If they are released, there is a good chance they will be caught again by our staff because with microchips on, they are not supposed to roam on streets," said Subhash Arya, leader of the MCD House.

The MCD officials said that they could remove the microchip by surgery but some cows may not survive the operation. "It is dangerous to remove microchips from the stomach of the cows. They may die during the operation. We are in a fix now," said a senior MCD official.

On Monday, Delhi mayor, Arti Mehra called a meeting of the senior veterinary officials. To avoid further damage, Mehra instructed the officials not to catch pregnant cows and their calves separately.