Lynching people over beef eating, cow slaughter is all the rage in the country right now. But who is to be held responsible if human lives are lost on account of stray cattle? In a second incident this month, three cows were killed along the Kadamba bypass road in the early hours of Thursday when a speeding car struck the animals. Luckily, the occupants of the vehicle escaped unscathed. The problem of stray cattle is not new in India. Bovines roam freely on the roads causing inconvenience and road accidents. And its not just our roads they invade: In 2014 a buffalo strayed onto an airport runway in Surat. Despite spotting the animal in time, however, the pilot could not avoid crashing into it. The situation becomes worse at night when it is difficult for commuters to spot the animals, usually found squatting right in the middle of the road, in time. Couple this with bad roads and inadequately-lit thoroughfares and the lives of road users are at great risk. The presence of cow dung on asphalt roads - especially during the monsoon- also invites mishaps in a great way.
In a bid to combat this, states like Madhya Pradesh have begin affixing radium stickers that on the horns of cattle. But this, in no way, is a permanent solution - the stickers last only a week. What we thus need is a permanent fix to the problem with the safety of road users being the number one priority. The authorities need to do more and initiate all possible steps to ensure that cattle do not venture on to the roads.
In a bid to combat this, states like Madhya Pradesh have begin affixing radium stickers that on the horns of cattle. But this, in no way, is a permanent solution - the stickers last only a week. What we thus need is a permanent fix to the problem with the safety of road users being the number one priority. The authorities need to do more and initiate all possible steps to ensure that cattle do not venture on to the roads.
