BHOPAL: The campaign to wipe out stray cattle menace in the state will start from Bhopal from January 16. Directives in this regard were given at a meeting held at the secretariat on Friday.Stray cattle captured during the campaign will be kept at the cow shelters initially. The government aims at rehabilitating over 5,000 stray cattle in Bhopal city.The decision was taken at an inter-departmental meeting held at the Mantralaya under the chairmanship of animal husbandry, fishermen welfare and fisheries development minister Lakhan Singh Yadav. The government also plans to open at least one cowshed for every six panchayats. The district collectors have been directed to identify land for the purpose.Yadav said stray cattle in the state are being allotted UID tag. Cow shelters will be opened in the areas near highways beginning from Bhopal as pilot project. He said that the Bhopal divisional commissioner, collector and the municipal corporation chief have been given the charge of conducting the campaign on war footing.Yadav said he would inspect the areas between January 22 and 25 to take stock of the stray cattle menace. He said stern action would be taken against the officials concerned, if any laxity is found during the inspection.Additional chief secretary (animal husbandry) Manoj Shrivastava, Bhopal divisional commissioner Kavindra Kiyawat, MNREGA commissioner GV Rashmi, collector Sudam Khade, secretary (jail) Rajiv Dube, DIG Dharmendra Choudhury, BMC commissioner B Vijay Dutta, director (animal husbandry) R K Rokade, MD, MPLDC HBS Bhadouria were present.ACS Shrivastav asked the collector to assess capacity at all seven Kanji houses in the city in next three days and hold discussion with the managers of all the 27 cow shelters in Bhopal district and assess their capacity so that the stray cattle could be kept there. Besides, other arrangements should also be ensured. Shrivastava directed officials to ask cattle owners not to let their stock loose on roads, or else their cattle would be captured and they will be heavily penalized.It was reported in the meeting that 4.37 lakh stray cattle including 1.53 lakh ‘gauvansh’ (bovines) are roaming on the streets in the state. There are 1,285 registered cow shelters in the state, of which 614 are functional. The number of gauvansh is based on the animal census of year 2012. According to an estimate by the animal husbandry department in 2018, there are around 6 lakh stray cattle in the state.

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