Come up with action plan, Set up a separate cell: Gujarat HC to Govt on stray cattle menace

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Monday directed the state government, Director General of Police (DGP), and city commissioner to put forth a short-term and long-term plan to handle the stray cattle nuisance on street by September 13. 

The division bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice AJ Shastri advised the state government to consider setting up a separate cell to monitor the stray cattle menace.

“It is high time that state came up with an action plan both for short term and long term for being implemented by a single agency and stern steps should be taken against those violating the orders passed by this court and guidelines issued by the state…” the bench said.

After going through the affidavits filed by AMC officials, the city police commissioner, and the state urban development department, the bench was not satisfied with the efforts undertaken by the city police which includes 120 FIRs against fodder sellers and only eight FIRs against cattle owners whose cattle were found straying on roads.

The bench was of the view that more stringent measures need to be adopted, as the cattle were not only responsible for people getting hurt but also for traffic accidents. “Police patrols should be intensified and more officers should be deputed,” the court said.

Meanwhile, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) cattle nuisance control department (CNCD) will continue to patrol the streets round-the-clock and impound stray cattle.

Taking into consideration that the state administration intends to invoke provisions of the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) against those who stop officials from impounding stray cattle, a court ordered authorities to take strict action against such “antisocial elements”.

The bench also instructed the Director General (DG) and Inspector General (IG) of police to convene a meeting of all Superintendents of Police to propose a plan of action to be taken at the district level, and to prevent any untoward incident from happening on account of cattle menace.

DeshGujarat