Stray cattle menace: UP villagers lock up 20 animals in health centre
The farmers alleged that government officials were not paying heed to the problems being faced by them. Stray animals damage potato, wheat, barley, vegetable and mustard crops worth lakhs of rupees in this region every year
: Villagers locked up more than 20 stray cattle in an ayurvedic health centre in Tilhar tehsil in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district on Tuesday, claiming that the animals had destroyed their standing crops and injured many people, according to station house officer (SHO) of Tilhar police station Ashok Pal.
The farmers alleged that government officials were not paying heed to the problems being faced by them. Stray animals damage potato, wheat, barley, vegetable and mustard crops worth lakhs of rupees in this region every year, they said.
The animals were released only after Tilhar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Moin-ul-Islam intervened The farmers, however, did not relent and continued their protest. The SDM soon called a police team and the situation was brought under control.
“I have asked revenue department officials to identify land on the Gram Samaj premises and initiate the process of constructing a cow shelter where stray animals will be kept. I have also asked the police to register a case against 30 unidentified people and seven named for creating obstruction in functioning of the health centre and disrupting health services,” said Islam.
The farmers alleged the stray cattle menace was adding to their woes. “We are already facing issues of outstanding payment for sugarcane and high electricity bills. And with the crops being ruined by stray cattle, our problems have aggravated. We had no option but resort to such a step,” said one of the farmers on condition of anonymity.
Farmers in Pilibhit and Moradabad have similar complaints.
On the night of January 4, people of Nagariya village in Shahjahanpur had locked around 15 stray cattle in a primary school. When children reached the school next day, they found the gate closed and animals on the campus. Teachers freed the animals after which students were allowed to enter the school.
According to locals, a day before, someone had unloaded about 20 animals from a truck and fled.
The farmers claimed they had submitted several memorandums to the officials at district headquarters but no drive had been carried out to catch stray animals in rural areas.
A few days ago, farmers in Mirzapur village surrounded stray animals and herded them to nearby villages during the night. But the next day, the animals were sent back to where they came from. This led to a confrontation between people from these villages.
Farooq Ali, head of gram panchayat, Palani North (Shahjahanpur district), had given his consent to authorities to build a temporary shelter in two other villages, but they are yet to come up, the villagers said.
Many farmers in rural Bareilly and Badaun have put up fencing to protect their crops from stray animals, but now the price of fencing wires has gone up. A single bundle of wire that cost Rs 60 per kg is now Rs 125, said farmers. This has escalated their production cost.
Earlier this month, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had instructed district magistrates in the state to ensure that all stray cattle in rural and urban areas are sent to cow shelters by January 10. According to chief development officer, Bareilly, Satayendra Kumar, a total of 300 cow shelters will be built in the district, of which 61 are under construction. So far more than 150 cows were caught and sent to shelter homes in the district.