Woes of Triplicane ~ cattle menace : HC notice to Corporation

Triplicane – Thiruvallikkeni, the name gotten from the famous lily pond – Kairavini Pushkarini, houses the famous Sri Parthasarathi Swami Temple and thousands throng the temple everyday.  It is a holy place and in someways has preserved its cultural heritage.

There are Streets, lanes and by-lanes, old type houses typically wind their way from one street, extending the next parallel street – most old buildings have been brought down, giving place to multi-storeyed apartments.  Incidentally, Veeraraghava Mudali Street, better known as ‘Big Street’ winds its way from Gangaikondan Market nearer Singarachari Street till Wallajah Road – a long Street but nothing big – at places it is a small narrow lane, unable of allowing two vehicles to pass by at a time.  In most streets, one will find vehicles parked haphazardly – making it difficult to walk even, leave alone going in 2 wheelers and in cars. Pedestrian path or the footway has since vanished.

Triplicanites are in someways a harassed lot. They have host of civic problems including : stagnating water, uncleared garbage, woes due to cement road dug too often and not relaid, unhygienic conditions,  stray dogs, cat menace, road shops everywhere and the like……. While these may be commonly found in many areas, Triplicane has another specific problem.  

It is the cattle menace……… areas like Mint, Choolai, Triplicane, Mylapore, Nungambakkam have cows – nothing new… some 3, 4 decades ago, there were hundreds of cattles in the lanes of Nagojirao street alone. Then there was a cattle diary opposite to Kellet High School and a Goshala nearer Murugar Temple off NKT National Girls School – those days were different. Now there are not so many in number – but cattle roam so freely on the road occupying the little space in the middle, making motoring and walking more difficult. At times they menacingly charge on the poor human beings and there have been occasions when people have been wounded by the hoofed animals.   It is mortal fear.

Any point of time during the day or night, one can sight cattle in group nearer Vegetable market at Gangaikondan Mandapam, near the Temple tank and in many other streets.  Their dung makes the road more difficult to walk, people slipping down badly and this clogs the sewers making them overflow on the road.   People are at their wits end, having taken up the issue with Corporation, Police and other authorities but no solution happening.  

In this background, this newsitem in Times of India, makes an interesting read, if not any hope by itself.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

HC notice to Corporation over animals on roads

Times News Network – Mar 13, 2013 – Chennai Edition.

The Madras high court on Tuesday ordered notice to the Chennai corporation commissioner on a public interest litigation seeking a direction to the civic body to take action against owners of animals which loiter the streets.

The petition, filed by K Chandrasekaran of Civil Aviation Colony in Nanganallur, claimed the corporation had failed to protect people from such animals and appealed to the court to order that these animals, which were “highly dangerous to the public”, be removed from the streets.   The petitioner said his wife was attacked by a cow on October 8 last year on a road in Civil Aviation Colony. “It butted her in the stomach with its horn, causing a major injury. Doctors put 20 stitches in her abdomen and she was under treatment for a month,” the petition said.  The petitioner said that when he lodged a complaint with the corporation, officials launched a drive which continued for two days, after which the animals were left free.

“Despite repeated complaints, the corporation did not act against animals without a valid licence or mark and their owners, which is a violation of the provisions under Sections 280 and 281 of the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act 1919,” said the petition.     According to section 280(b) of the act, “No person shall keep an animal on his premises so as to be a nuisance or so as to be dangerous,” while section 281 of the act says “If any dogs or pigs are found straying, the same may be summarily destroyed by any person authorised in writing by the commissioner.”