27,352 stray cattle in Himachal
Shimla: To provide shelter to stray cattle in natural environment and also to provide facilities for grazing as per the availability of land resources, the state government has decided to set up cow sanctuaries/Gausadans in eleven districts of the state except for Lahaul Spiti district.
Animal Husbandry Minister Virender Kanwar stated that in initial phase, cow sanctuaries/Gosadans are being set up at Kotla Barog in District Sirmour, Handa Kundi in District Solan, Kheri in District Hamirpur, Thana Kalan Khas in District Una, Indora-Damtal, Kudan-GP-Badsar-Palampur, Kangaihan-Jaisinghpur and Luthan (Jawalamukhi) in District Kangra. Barota-Dabwal, Tehsil Shree Naina Devi ji in District Bilaspur, Dhar-Tatoh, Tehsil Sadar in District Bilaspur.
The maximum four Cow sanctuaries/Gosadans will be set up at Kangra district at Indora (Damtal), Kudan-(Palampur), Kangaihan (Jaisinghpur) and Luthan (Jawalamukhi) have been identified.
Kanwar said the civil works of boundary wall for a Big Gosadan Bain Attarian, (being run by temple trust), at a cost of Rs. 77,90,000 is being carried out so as to enhance the carrying capacity of this Gosadan from existing 250 to 1000.
A target has been fixed that at least one cow sanctuary will be set up in each district except Lahaul Spiti while four cow sanctuaries will be set up in bigger districts like Kangra where the number of stray cattle is high.
The Minister said that at present three cow sanctuaries and two big Gosadans are under construction in Sirmour, Solan, Una, Hamirpur and Chamba Districts. At present cow sanctuaries/Gosadans are being constructed at Kotla Barog in Sirmour district with proposed cow strength between 300-500 cows, Handa Kundi in district Solan with proposed cow strength between 300-500 cows, Thana Kalan Khas in Una District with proposed cow strength between 400-600 cows, Kheri, Sujanpur in District Hamirpur with proposed cow strength approximately 600 cows, Manjheer District Chamba with proposed cow strength between 300-400 cows. The cow sanctuary/Gosadan at Kotla Barog in Sirmour district will be set up in 109 bighas area while cow sanctuary/Gosadan at Handa Kundi in District Solan, Thana Kalan Khas in District Una, Kheri, Sujanpur in District Hamirpur and Manjheer in District Chamba will be set up in 114.7 bighas, 390 Kanals, 153 Kanal and 12.5 bighas area respectively.
Virender Kanwar said that budget provision of Rs. 1.52 crores for Kotla Barog in District Sirmour, Rs. 2.97 crores for Handa Kundi in District Solan, Rs. 1.69 crores for Thana kalan khas in District Una, Rs. 2.56 crores for Kheri Sujanpur in District Hamirpur and Rs. 1.66 crores for Manjheer in District Chamba district has been made to construct the required infrastructure for these cow sanctuary/Gosadan.
He added that construction work on all above five cow sanctuaries/ big Gosadans is in the final stage and will be completed by the year 2020 and all these cow sanctuaries/big Gosadans shall be made functional in the year 2020.
The government has notified various government departments engaged in infrastructure development like the PWD, RD, HPSIDC, Housing Board etc. as nodal departments for construction of these sanctuaries depending upon the suitability and workload pending with the department in the respective district.
He said that the population of stray cattle in the state on roads presently is 27,352 and while 13,337 cattle are being reared in existing Gosadans and Gaushalas in the state.
The Minister said that the state Government will generate funds for running these cow sanctuaries through 15% net income of temple trusts and other resources to meet day to day expenditures of these cow sanctuaries. The state government is also providing financial assistance to NGO/Gram Panchayats/local bodies for running smart Gaushallas under PPP mode by providing financial assistance to these organizations.
The capacity of each cow sanctuary will depend on the size of land availability in the respective district and state govt will use cow dung/urine for biogas plants, power generations and make other daily use products for sale in the open market to generate additional funds for these cow sanctuaries/Gosadans. The services of veterinary doctors /grass /fodder will be made available in each cow sanctuary/Gosadan in order to meet the basic needs of stray cows being reared in cow sanctuaries.
