Nitish Kumar had recently flayed cow vigilantism for political gains
Two specially-demarcated cattle-sheds have been set up in the city on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's orders with the Patna district administration having moved 35 abandoned livestocks so far into them.
Mr Kumar had recently flayed cow vigilantism for political gains and had announced that his government would build cattle sheds to feed cattle, which are abandoned after they stop giving milk.
"The lodging of stray cattle to special sheds has begun from yesterday and 35 of them abandoned after they stopped giving milk have been sent there till date," Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal told PTI, adding they are fully being taken care of at the state's cost.
Mr Agarwal said he has instructed executive officers of four divisions of Patna Municipal Corporation to conduct a survey in their areas and identify the abandoned cattle.
He said they have been told to bring the cattle safely to the special sheds, which are being maintained at the state's expense.
The cattle in the sheds are provided good feed and veterinary doctors have been put on duty to attend to them round-the-clock, he said.
Executive Officer Shailesh Kumar of the new capital region said there is a provision in the Patna Municipal Corporation Act to impose Rs 5,000 penalty on the owners of cattle which are deserted after they stop giving milk. The penalty is doubled if the act is repeated.
The authorities, however, are not interested in imposing fines at the moment and are rather concentrating on identifying the deserted cattle and sending them to cattle-sheds, he said.
The cattle-shed in Katrabazar is on a 15-bigha plot and the one at Deedarganj is spread across 3 to 4 bighas, Mr Agarwal added.