Rs.8,000 fine for stray cattle in Gurgaon

CHANDIGARH - Stray cattle are clearly not helping Gurgaon, a satellite town of the national capital, to project itself as a Millennium City. So, town authorities have now decided to come down heavily on the owners of stray cattle.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) said the owner would have to shell out Rs.8,000 in penalty for securing the release of his straying cattle head from the pen. The fine earlier was Rs.1,500.

A special campaign was launched Friday till Aug 31 to catch stray cattle in the city.

“As per the plan, no stray cattle would be seen wandering in the city by Jan 1 next year. The MCG has constructed a ‘Gaushala’ (cattle pen) in a nearby village Kartarpuri. It has been built on five acres of land at a cost of about Rs.1 crore,” said Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Khullar.

The MCG has impounded 980 stray cattle head found roaming the town streets since Mar 3 this year.

To encourage the MCG staff to impound more stray cattle, the authorities have raised the incentive money to Rs.15 per cattle head caught.

Khullar said the job of catching stray pigs has been given to the NGO ‘People For Animals’. He said that pigs once caught would not be released in any case.