Rourkela: Roads in this city have turned into a deathtrap due to the presence of bovines. A student met with an accident Monday evening here after a cow rammed his two-wheeler. Luckily the boy escaped with minor injuries.
A few days back, a woman, also on a two-wheeler panicked and fell as a herd of buffaloes surrounded her. These are not just isolated incidents. Many such accidents are happening on a daily basis in this city. However, they go unnoticed.
“Such accidents are taking place simply because of the lackadaisical attitude of the local administration,” the woman who found herself in the midst of a buffalo herd said.
The municipal corporation had been on a clean-up drive during the men’s Hockey World Cup. All four-legged animals including cows, bulls and stray dogs were removed from the city. The RMC also levied a fine of Rs 2,000 on all cow owners, if the animals were found straying on the roads.
This prompted the owners to keep the cows on leash. However, once the World Cup ended, all rules and norms went for a toss. Also a letter from MP Maneka Gandhi allegedly prevented the RMC officials from continuing with the strict enforcement of rules.
However, this was denied by Deputy Commissioner of RMC Sundhansu Bhoi. “We did not enforce any action against the cow owners. Only the stray dogs were removed from the streets,” Bhoi said.
The RMC has it’s the ‘Kanjia House’ to keep the cows. As there was space shortage it developed a bigger place in Sector14 of this city on a plot provided by RSP which is in a bad shape.
PNN