It’s a bullrun that is taking lives. The cattle “menace” is pretty much an annual featureduring and after the monsoons when hordes of bovines pretty much make thenational highways their resting parlours, causing umpteen crashes and loss oflives.
TheNational Highway-17, stretch in Canacona is one of the worst affected.
Inthe last two years at least 100 people were injured and ten died involvingtwo-wheeler accidents, which involved the bovines. The two-wheeler riderswould hit the stray cattle on the National High Way-17 from Balli, Canacona toPolem resulting in death or injuries to human lives.
Whileover 80 two-wheelers and 100 other light and heavy motor vehicles were damageddue to mishaps involving stray cattle, the mishaps have also caused severaldeaths of bovines.
Accordingto rough estimates, over 100 cattle have died while another 150 have beeninjured, in mishaps in Canacona taluka in the last two years. So far theauthorities have failed to control the situation, informed Saplesh Desai, Panchof Agonda village panchayat.
Newly elected Chairperson of theCanacona Municipal Council (CMC), Ajay Bhagat, told The Goan that the straycattle menace along the National Highway from Balli to Polem has worsened over the last twoyears and especially during the monsoons.
The Karmal Ghat area along theNational Highway which is at a distance of about four kms from Canacona policestation and at a distance of about 18 kms from the Cuncolim police station hasproved to be an accident-prone zone.
For the last many years, thisstretch of road has become a death trap to two-wheeler riders inparticular. It also endangers other vehicle riders for the simple reason thatthe stretch of road on either sides of Karmal Ghat has sharp curves. The cattlemenace also adds to the problem.
Most accidents involving cattleoccur at night due to poor lighting along most parts of the highway. In mostcase it’s the inter-state vehicles that are involved, police said.
“In spite of several accidents itis surprising that no attempts have been made to install traffic signalswarning motorists about the impending dangers of driving along a cattle-pronezone road,” said Prashant Mahale, panch of Shristall village panchayat.
