Stray cattle occupy a portion of a village road at Agonda.
CANACONA
Stray cattle have posed a major threat to motorists along several village roads in Canacona, contributing to a number of mishaps in the last few months.
The most vulnerable are two-wheeler riders, who have hit the stray cattle, while also skidding on cow dung on the road.
A rickshaw driver from Agonda complained that it is difficult to spot stray cattle on internal roads which lack street lights.
Another resident of Agonda, Vinod Phaldessai, said the presence of stray cattle on the roads day and night has become a matter of grave concern.
“A lot of cow dung is left on the road, making it slippery for motorists. There have been several instances where two-wheeler riders have skidded on the road,” said Phaldessai.
At Agonda, stray cattle can be found on the roads at Karashir-Moll, Parvem, Mudkud, Beach road and Dhavalkhazan throughout the day and night.
In two recent incidents, two women riders were thrown off their bikes after ramming into cows at night.
Since stray cattle owners had not taken action to remove the stray cattle from the roads, locals then approached the Agonda Panchayat Administrator Biva Velip.
But Velip also expressed his inability to tackle the issue of stray cattle.
“Let panchayat elections get over and then the new sarpanch and panchas can take the initiative to remove stray cattle from the roads," he said.
Locals claimed that cattle owners have made no effort to take their cattle back to their sheds, while also accusing cattle welfare agencies of failing to solve the problem.
Many in the village have felt that the panchayat should have a cattle pound for stray cattle.
“Not only will it provide shelter for the impounded cattle, it will also prevent cattle from consuming garbage in plastic bags and other hazardous waste,” remarked a resident.
