Water scarcity hits cattle owners

By Saptarshi Bhattacharya

CHENNAI, JULY 3. The drinking water scarcity in the city seems to have badly affected the local cattle owners and milk traders.

Most of the cattle owners who sold milk locally were forced to give up their cattle owing to the lack of drinking water. Over the past few months, there has been a perceptible fall in the cattle population, going by the number of stray cattle on the roads.

According to a 1997 census, the animal population in the city stood at around 20,000. This year, the number has come down at least by 4000 to 5000, the civic officials say.

This was primarily due to the water scarcity. Moreover, the cost of cattle feed has also gone up, forcing the owners to either sell off their cattle or take them away from the city to the peripheral areas or villages.

Added to it was the periodical cattle raids which the Chennai City Corporation claims to undertake everyday. Annually, 3,000 cattle are impounded during such raids and about Rs. 20 lakhs recovered from their owners as penalty for letting the animals loose in the streets.

The officials say the number of complaints of cattle menace has come down of late. The areas where the concentration of the animals is the most are Triplicane, Sowcarpet and Choolai. This is primarily because a considerable number of the population belonged to the northern parts of India and the milk consumption was high. Moreover, there are many sweet manufacturers in and around those areas. Stray cattle could also be seen in other areas including R.A.Puram and Kilpauk.

While the drop in the cattle population will have an adverse impact on milk production, it has brought some relief to the civic body. Its decision to relocate cattle from the city to the fringe areas has been challenged in the court by the cattle owners under the banner of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers' Federation. The case is still pending.

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