A trip through a congested busy main road of Kendrapara municipality often becomes a nightmare for commuters, thanks to the roaming of stray animals. Here in the municipality area, most of the time, one can come across stray animals either lying on the middle of the road or crossing the road by creating traffic problem.
Commuters alleged that due to lack of initiatives taken by the municipal authority and the district administration, the problem is going from bad to worse. Since no step is taken to shift the animals from major entry points and chowks, there are frequent traffic snarls and accidents, apart from the road becoming dirty due to their dung.
If the fire tender personnel of Kendrapada are to be believed, more than 20 per cent road mishaps occur in the main road due to the stray animals. The stray animals like cows, bulls and dogs can be seen taking a nap anywhere, even in the middle of the road. Sometimes they get agitated and attack commuters. Especially during monsoon, the situation becomes worse.
Most of these stray cows have been cast off by their owners because they are old and have stopped giving milk. The responsibility of the civic body is to keep a tab on the trend, said Gayadhar Dhal, a local.
Many alleged that, years back, there were sheds under Kendrapada Municipality to accommodate the stray cattle but they have vanished now. The stray animals were taken into sheds and fine was imposed on their owners. But the practice has stopped.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the district Collector has directed the DIPRO to use public address system to alert the denizens to take their cattle off road by March 10 or face action.
When contacted, Kendrapada Municipality Chairman Dhiren Kumar Sahu admitted that only one shed was operating near Kajala Adhibashisahi till last year. But it is now defunct as the leaseholder did not pay the fee to run it. However, the municipal authority is taking steps for making the shed operational once again. Plans are afoot to select a site for constructing sheds in township area, he told.
He further stated that even steps are going to be undertaken for organizing sterilization programme for stray dogs to control their population.