MARGAO
Stray cattle holding motorists to ransom along the Cuncolim-Sarzora-Dandeavaddo-Chinchinim National highway stretch is an open secret. Road accidents have not been uncommon on this stretch of the NH-17 with the stray cattle laying a siege along the entire stretch.
Sadly, successive governments have utterly failed to address the issue, with the authorities only passing the buck on the local bodies to take care of the strays. Take the recent correspondence received by the Chinchinim village panchayat from the Margao Traffic Cell. The Cell has pushed the buck of tackling the strays on the local Chinchinim panchayat body, without putting in place a mechanism.
Says Chinchinim Deputy Sarpanch Valentino Barretto, who stays at the Dandeavaddo junction, the worst affected, along the stretch. "The entire Highway stretch from Panzorconne-Cuncolim to the Dandeavaddo junction has turned accident prone because of the presence of the strays. Take note, the stray cattle owners are neither from Chinchinim nor from Sarzora, but the cattle have made the highway their home over the years."
Valentino said it is easy for the police or the traffic police, to ask the panchayat bodies to tackle the strays, but the ground reality sounds different. "I had recently engaged a local person with a fixed wage with a clear brief to ensure the strays do not invade the highway and other village roads. When I approached the panchayat body to clear the bills of the person, the secretary told me there's no provision in the panchayat rules to engage a labourer to keep the strays at bay," Valentino said.
He said the panchayat would knock the doors of the Animal Husbandry department to find out the schemes funded by the State government to tackle the stray cattle menace.
"The panchayat will write to the Animal Husbandry department in this respect to find out a solution," he added.
