NOIDA: Amid growing public anger over the stray cattle menace, the Gautam Budh Nagar administration on Wednesday formed three committees — at the district, tehsil and block levels — to catch the animals and shift them to temporary shelter homes that will be soon set up with basic facilities, including a vet for check-ups.For proper implementation of the programme, district officials will hold weekly meetings and also visit villages to pursuade farmers not to abandon their cattle, said district magistrate BN Singh. To begin with, Noida Authority teams on Wednesday caught 23 stray cows and four bulls in different sectors and shifted them to the Sector 94 gaushala.The decision to set up committees to deal with the problem comes barely nine days after the Yogi Adityanath government empowered the urban and rural civic bodies across the state to run temporary shelters to take care of stray cattle, following reports of these animals damaging crops and leading to road accidents.“The block-level committee that includes the block development officer, vets, gram pradhan, and officials from the animal welfare , forest, irrigation and revenue departments, will identify suitable land and develop temporary shelters,” the DM said.“The tehsil-level committee headed by SDMs, will review the work of block-level committees and take necessary measures to resolve problems. The DM, the district police chief, the chief veterinary officer and ADMs are members of the district-level committee. They will review the work of the tehsil and block-level committees,” Singh added.According to the DM, the district administration teams will regularly meet farmers and urge them against abandoning their cattle. “Farmers will also be encouraged to buy cattle for milk production and farming purposes from these cow shelters. The money will be further used for animal welfare in the district,” he said.As the administration announced its plan, the Gau Raksha Dal, an outfit that shot to limelight last year by harassing couples at various malls and parks in Noida and Greater Noida on Valentine’s Day, said it could also run shelters for stray cattle if the government gave them land.“We have not developed any gaushalas. But we are always there to stop illegal slaughtering of cattle. If the administration gives us land, we can also do take care of the cattle,” Ved Nagar, its president, told TOI.However, villagers have welcomed the plan to set up cow shelters in the district. “We are troubled due to the sudden rise in stray animals, as they sometimes attack people and also destroy crops. Anyway, the district administration’s decision to take care of the stray cattle is a welcome step,” said Vipin Kumar, head of Mudhrah village in Jewar.It was in this village that a man who ran a gaushala died two weeks ago after a cow attacked him.

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