Agra: Agitated over the stray cattle menace, farmers in Agra district marched for several kilometres and staged protest at the office of the sub-divisional magistrate in Fatehabad on Tuesday. The farmers threatened that they will let loose stray cattle in the divisional commissioner’s office if a cow shelter is not set up in the area within 10 days.Raising slogans against the state government and administration, the protesters said authorities had failed to take care of the abandoned cattle who were destroying their crops.District president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rashtrawadi) Somveer Yadav said, “Stray animals have caused up to 40% crop loss to the farmers. In over a dozen cases, farmers have lost their life or have suffered severe injuries in attacks by stray animals in Agra district alone. Even after repeated requests, the authorities have failed to take any significant action to bring relief to us. The situation is testing patience of farmers.”Farmer leader Shyam Singh Chahar said, “Farmers are already suffering financial crisis as they are not able to get suitable price for their crop. Now, they are made to suffer further losses due to stray cattle. It is the responsibility of the local administration and animal husbandry department to make suitable arrangements for stray animals.”“After 10 days, we will gather all stray cattle and herd them to the office of the divisional commissioner . The local tehsildar has been informed of this,” Chahar said.Vishnu Katara, another BKU leader, said, “Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had directed all the district magistrates to ensure that stray cattle were shifted to cow shelters by January 10. But the Agra district administration has not been able to implement the orders. Farmers are waking all night to guard their fields from stray animals. We have demanded time-bound solution to the issue.”Sub-divisional magistrate (Fatehabad) BP Singh said, “We are working on a plan to develop cow shelter facilities at three places. Out of these, arrangements are in final stages at Nagar Chand and Kolara Kalan villages.”“To address area-specific problem, village development officers have been directed to collaborate with gram pradhans to develop cattle yards on pasture land,” the officer said.

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