Stray Cattle Menace In Bhopal: Monsoon Pushes Accident Tally To 40 Per Day

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): People are being wary of riding two-wheelers on the roads in the city during monsoon, as the stray cattle have chosen to claim their places in the middle of roads. Notably, this has resulted in accidents on a daily basis in the city, the number of which has gone up to 40 per day. The data sourced by Bhopal traffic police revealed that accidents owing to the same used to happen earlier too, but had been limited to just 15 per day till last year.

Both the old, as well as the new areas of the city have been reeling under menace. It would, however, be wrong to say that Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has turned a blind eye to this, as in the previous week. The BMC teams had gone to three different city localities to capture stray cattle resting in the middle of the roads but were thrashed by the locals there. Notably, the incidents took place in Bhanpur, Chhola and Sindhi Colony.

Residents of affected areas told Free Press that it is usually during monsoon that the cattle would sit on road, as they find solace and relaxation on drenched roads.

Highest number of accidents

Senior officials from Bhopal traffic police told Free Press that the areas where the road accidents are on the rise due to the stray cattle include Shaitaan Singh Square road, which connects to Trilanga, Misrod, Chunabhatti, Chhola and Govindpura. They added that the rural areas of the city also bear the brunt as scores of villages and tehsils are located nearby where farming is common. And farmers often keep cattle in large numbers, which are left untamed on the road.

'Cattle capturing drives expedited'

Additional municipal commissioner Ranveer Singh said civic body had expedited cattle-capturing drives by up to three times, to combat the menace. Commenting on recent attacks faced by BMC teams, he expressed faith in police action, adding that FIRs had been registered against the accused.