Himachal to set up board to solve cattle menace

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has favoured constitution of a board to look into providing shelter to stray animals.

The High Court had asked the state to make the roads free of stray cattle by the end of this year.

"It was unfortunate that the people abandon the barren cattle, including cows, and most of them were responsible for road accidents," an official statement quoted the chief minister as saying.

The chief minister, according to the statement, said the government would open shelter homes for the stray cattle in the state in a phased manner.

"I don't want to see a single cow or stray cattle on the roads," he was quoted as saying.

The government would involve NGOs for this purpose.

The chief minister also said the government would ensure that stray dogs are kept in shelter homes.

A division bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Sureshwar Thakur earlier this month observed that abandoning of the cattle would amount to cruelty.

"Prosecutions be launched against owners of any cattle which are found on the streets, roads and public places," the court said.

It has directed that all the cattle in the state would be tagged so that its owner could be traced.

A coordination committee shall be constituted in each district, which would be responsible for eradicating the stray cattle menace, the court added.