Chennai has 20,000 cows, but no facility to incinerate dead cattle

CHENNAI: While cattle wandering on busy roads has become a routine sight for residents, a more serious and largely unnoticed issue persists. The city has no designated facility to bury or incinerate dead cattle, even though the city officially permits residents to rear them.

At present, the Corporation provides incineration facilities only for pet animals such as dogs at burial grounds in Mylapore, Moolakothalam and Kannamapet, where owners can cremate pets for a fee. However, no government-supported facility exists for cattle.

As a result, cattle owners depend on public burial grounds, often paying workers a few thousand rupees unofficially to bury carcasses. For abandoned or stray cattle that die within the Corporation limits, the GCC transports the bodies to the Kodungaiyur dump yard for burial.

Officials said, “There has been no formal demand from cattle owners for dedicated cattle incinerators”.

Cattle-rearers in Mylapore, however, said that if the government offered such a facility, they would use it. “Without an authorised incinerator, arranging disposal of carcasses is difficult and time-consuming, especially in densely populated neighbourhoods,” they pointed out.

Since Chennai is estimated to have nearly 20,000 cows within its municipal limits, with more than 90% reared for milk production, the absence of designated infrastructure for burial has raised concerns about sanitation, urban planning and disease prevention. Public health experts note that improper disposal can contaminate soil and groundwater and attract scavengers, leading to further hygiene issues.