Bhubaneswar, Sept. 9: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has decided to increase the penal charge for keeping stray cattle in its kine house in an effort to contain the cattle menace in the city.
The new fine amount would be Rs 500 for the first 24 hours instead of the current Rs 100. The cattle owner has to pay Rs 100 a day if the animal stays at the kine house for more than a day. At present, cattle owners pay a fine of Rs 50 a day after 24 hours.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner has already written to the secretary-cum-commissioner of the housing and urban development department in this regard and the civic body will enhance the fine after it gets a nod from the department.
The city is witnessing cattle menace on many roads. Cattle are blocking roads, traffic junctions and even flyovers. At night, the congregations of cattle on dark roads cause accidents.
At present, the corporation has only one kine house at Kharavela Nagar in Unit-III and it can accommodate only 35 animals at a time. On the other hand, there is only the provision of water and food such as straw at that facility.
“We are not the only municipal corporation to collect Rs 500 for each animal at the kine house. Surat Municipal Corporation collected a revenue of Rs 35 lakh in fines in 2011-12 through its kine houses. It collects Rs 1,500 from each cow-owner as fine after keeping the cattle in the kine house for 24 hours, so that they are more responsible,’’ said BMC commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra.
On the other hand, the BMC not only has a small kine house for the entire city, but also just a seven-member team for its cattle-catching drives. The team is not able to cover all areas because there is only one vehicle to capture the animals.
Sources said in November 2011, the previous municipal commissioner had also written to the housing and urban development department to hike the fine amount.
“Cattle-owners in the city willingly let their cows roam. They milk them in the evening and let them loose on the roads again. Such violators should be punished by collection of a hefty fine,’’ said urban development practitioner Piyush Ranjan Rout.
“A non-resident Odia, who stays in the UK, is constructing a modern kine house with the facility to keep bulls. At present, there is no place to house bulls at our Kharavela Nagar facility,’’ said BMC mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
The BMC is planning to construct a two-acre modern kine house on the city outskirts where the cattle would be kept in one-acre land. In the remaining land, fodder would be produced for the animals.
“We have already applied to the general administration department for the land and we are likely to get it somewhere near the Chandaka limits,’’ Jena said.