Stray cattle, a ‘wandering’ threat on suburban roads

Residents of Perungulathur and surrounding areas alleged that as many as 30 cattle were loitering in the main roads despite the crackdown by police, posing a threat to two-wheeler drivers.

A month ago, a man who was riding a two-wheeler fell off his bike and died after two cattle fought with each other and landed on his bike. Following this incident, Kancheepuram Superintendent of Police ordered the arrest of the cattle owners, for letting them stray on the roads and disrupting the traffic. Despite the order, residents claimed that officials have not taken any effort in finding the cattle owners for punishing them.

“Every night when I come here to drop my company employees and it is a big headache for me, as the cattle will just intercept vehicles in the middle of the road. It will not move even if we horn. Many times, we had to get down from the vehicle to make it move from the way,” said Aravindh, cab driver of a private company.

Meena, a college student from Perungaluthur, said that cattle that loiter in the streets lay down in front of her house. “The cattle lay down just in front of our gate. The place has become a mess and going out of house is very difficult,” said Meena.

When contacted, supervisor of the Perungalathur town panchayat Mohan said, “We will initiate talks with the cattle owners and warn them. If they continue this, severe action will be taken against them.”