Dairy News
City has just 364 bovines: Dairy dept data
Wednesday, 18/05/2016Nagpur: The city's bovine population is 25,214 mark as per the state government's livestock census. Shockingly, the dairy development department's own data of registered cattle shows many times less than the actual number. The department data says there are only 364 registered cattle in the city.
Moreover, the annual renewal licences to keep bovines too has witnessed a steep decline. According to the statistics with the department, the city has only 50 owners who have registered their cattle sheds. However, the number of cattle sheds in the city limit was 1,171 as per the survey carried out during the 2015-2016 animal census. The survey was carried out by the state government and NMC's veterinary department.
A senior officer from the department told TOI that it has issued licences for only 364 livestocks in April and renewed the annual licences of 50 cattle shed owners. In sharp contrast, a government resolution of 2003 pointed out that under the Maharashtra Keeping & Movement of Cattle in Urban Areas Act, 1976, the state had declared Nagpur city as a prohibited area for keeping cattle.
Even Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) had issued guidelines for prevention of pollution caused by tabelas (cattle sheds). However, these were never implemented.
The GR had made it mandatory to register cattle sheds. Within three years, the Maharashtra dairy development department started registering cattle sheds in corporation limits and in rural areas.
Besides this, the department has started collecting a fee of Rs50 per animal per annum as licence fee from owners. As per the GR, the department has also started undertaking from bovine owners that they will follow all terms and conditions including maintaining proper sanitation of the cattle shed and appropriate disposal of dungs.
The officer, however, could not explain why the number of licence renewal has come down and so the decrease in registered animals.
One of the major violation is being practised blatantly is that shed owners let their cattle roam free. This has turned into a major menace as stray cattle disrupt smooth flow of traffic.
"Failure of the dairy development in monitoring cattle sheds has increased problems for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation," admitted a senior official from the veterinary department.
There are several factors contributing to the cattle problem in the city. The most notable being the demand for milk and milk-related products in urban areas. This has led to rise in cattle population in the nearby villages and peripheral areas.
To resolve the issue, the civic body proposed to hike fine on owners of animals for letting their cattle on streets. The NMC office-bearers, however, are not too keen to resolve the issue as almost all the cattle sheds either belong to corporators or political leaders. The standing committee has been making budgetary provisions for funds since last couple of years but could not initiate any process due to external pressure.
IN A NUTSHELL
- City has only 50 owners who have registered their cattle shed
- The number of cattle sheds was 1,171 as per 2015-2016 census
- Demand for milk has led to rise in cattle population in the nearby villages
- Civic body proposed to hike fine on owners of animals for letting cattle on streets
- NMC office-bearers are not too keen to resolve the issue as almost all the cattle sheds belong to corporators or netas