As many as 241 people have lost their lives in accidents involving stray cattle in Haryana over the past two years, a reply to a RTI application has revealed.
According to the information furnished by Public Information Officer, Office of Director General of Police, Haryana, 241 people across the State have lost their lives in accidents involving stray cattle from January 1, 2018 to March 2, 2020.
Among the 23 districts, Fatehabad tops the list with 40 deaths followed by Ambala (38), Kaithal (23) and Sirsa (23). However, Gurugram, Rohtak, Narnaul, Nuh and Jind did not witness a single case of accident pertaining to stray animals.
Panipat-based RTI activist P.P. Kapoor said 241 deaths in accidents due to stray animals were as per the police records, but the actual figure could be much larger. He said there could also be a large number of people injured and maimed in accidents involving stray animals.
He criticised the Haryana government, saying the budget of Gau Seva Aayog had increased manifold from ₹45 lakh to ₹30 crore during the BJP rule, and 332 police personnel, including 18 inspectors, were part of the cow protection squad, but the cows were dying in gaushals in large numbers and the people were losing their lives on the roads due to accidents involving the stray animals.
Demanding to know as to who was responsible for the death of innocent people on the roads due to stray animals, Mr. Kapoor said the government must compensate the families of the deceased. He said the stray animals were also responsible for destroying the crops of the farmers.
‘Failed campaign’
Mr. Kapoor said the State government had set two deadlines — August 15, 2018 and January 26, 2019 — to make Haryana stray cattle free, but the campaign failed miserably due to lack of political will and failure of the officials to fulfil their duty.
