CHENNAI: An elderly man was attacked by a cow at Triplicane on Monday and admitted to Government multi-super specialty hospital, Omandurar, for treatment. Following this, Chennai Corporation commissioner J Radhakrishnan directed them to catch cows roaming in the area and slapped fines on the cow owners.
An 80-year-old man, Sundaram, differently abled with speech impairment, was attacked and injured by a cow that was loitering in the area. Police booked a case against the cattle owner.
Immediately, five cows were caught and a fine of Rs 5,000 was imposed on the owners.
"Almost 80 percent of the local residents were supportive of the Corporation catching cattle roaming on the roads that causes inconvenience and poses a threat to the public. And urged us to ban the profession. However, we don't have the authority to do so. We have to take steps to control the cattle that trouble the common people. Also, we don't catch the cattle that are tied up," Radhakrishnan told DT Next.
The cattle owner should be responsible for ensuring that the cows are tied up in a shelter. "In addition, the local residents feeding the cattle in public places assumes it's a good deed, but it has been a challenge for the civic body to catch the cows. We have decided to intensify action against the activity against those who feed cattle," added the commissioner.
So far, this year 3,737 cows have been caught and fines imposed against the owners.
The corporation authorities increased the fine from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 from September to control the nuisance caused by the cows and buffaloes in the city. If the cattle were caught for the second time, the penalty would be Rs 10,000.
At present, the cattle are impounded in the shelters at Pudupet and Perambur maintained by the city corporation.
The authorities are identifying shelters at zonal levels to increase the number of shelters in the city to impound captured cattle.