A trip through the busy road between Darbhanga railway station and Laheriasarai often becomes an ordeal for commuters, thanks to hundreds of stray animals.

The animals virtually rule the streets during the peak hours of the day, throwing traffic out of gear.

The district administration recently took a number of steps, including making the 6km road between the railway station and Laheriasarai a one-way stretch, to ensure smooth traffic movement. However, cows, buffalos, horses and several other animals have been their undoing. Besides crippling traffic, these animals often become the primary cause for accidents in the past.

Residents said though it should not take more than half-an-hour to cross the stretch, sometimes it takes nearly an hour or even more because of the snarls.

“There are several chowks where we find stray animals either sitting on the middle of the road or comfortably seated at the crossings, or even crossing the road. Such animals pose serious problems to the commuters. There is an urgent need to check these animals if some serious problems have to be averted,” Darbhanga mayor Gauri Paswan told The Telegraph.

“Earlier, there were several sheds with Darbhanga Municipal Corporation (DMC) but they are lying defunct now. These stray animals, however, were taken into sheds and fine was imposed to their owners if they strayed on to the main roads,” she said.

The onus of keeping a tab on the owners of these stray animals is of the civic body, but it has not done anything to curb the menace. The mayor on July 20, directed the DMC to find out the number of sheds falling under the DMC ensure they are made operational “as soon as possible”.

Paswan has asked the civic administration to make an announcement in the next few days so that a fine is imposed on the owners if their animals stray on to the roads.

Sources said once owners of these stray animals are made aware of the move, the shed will be made functional. The amount of money to be charged from the owners has not been decided yet.

“Besides the threat of an accident, these stray animals often increase the stress levels in the minds of the commuters. Apart from being more tired mentally, it becomes a cause of wastage of fuel. There are four of five spots between Lalit Narayan Mithila University and Laheria Sarai, where we find stray animals every day,” G.S. Rai, the professor of psychology at Lalit Narayan Mithila University, said.