New Delhi, Dec 24: To enhance road safety and address the challenge of stray cattle-related accidents, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has taken up a pilot project to provide cattle shelters along the national highways.
“This initiative aims to create a safer travel experience for commuters while ensuring care and management of stray cattle and animals found along the National Highways,” according to an NHAI statement.
With shelter areas ranging from 0.21 to 2.29 hectares, the pilot project will be strategically located to serve as safe spaces for stray cattle, reducing their presence on national highways. The initiative will be implemented on various national highway stretches, including the Uttar Pradesh-Haryana border to the Rohna section of NH-334B, where shelters will be set up along the Kharkhoda Bypass.
Similarly, shelters will be constructed along the Bhiwani-Hansi section of NH-148B at Hansi Bypass, the Kiratpur-Ner Chowk section of NH-21 and the Dangiyawas to Jajiwal section of the Jodhpur Ring Road on NH-112.
To implement this initiative, NHAI has signed an MoU with the existing concessionaire Gawar Construction Ltd. Under the contract, Gawar Construction Limited will build cattle shelters on land provided by NHAI.
The concessionaire will also maintain these shelters by providing first aid, adequate fodder, water, and caretakers throughout the concession period, ensuring the well-being of the animals.
Besides, the concessionaire, under its CSR initiative, will deploy cattle ambulances to transport and treat injured stray animals and set up first-aid centres and hospitals to cater to a 50-km distance on each side for timely medical care of these animals. Beyond the construction and maintenance of shelters, the concessionaire will also ensure the safe transportation of stray cattle to these facilities, provide feed and enforce the provisions of the Cattle Trespass Act, 1871.
The MoU will remain in force for the balance period of the concessionaire. Commenting on the initiative, NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav said, “By addressing the challenges posed by stray cattle on the national highways, this unique initiative is another step that furthers NHAI’s commitment to not only to create safer national highways for commuters by enhancing road safety but also fulfills a humane requirement of taking care of stray animals. I am sure that this initiative will set a new benchmark for a holistic national highway infrastructure development in the country.”
Ravinder Gawar, Director, Gawar Construction Ltd., said, “We are open to extending this initiative on all our NH projects and even projects awarded to other concessionaires to set up more such shelters in various regions across the country.”
NHAI has been facing challenges posed by stray cattle/animal movement on national highways in several states across the country which is hazardous to road users’ safety.
Although several steps for the removal of cattle from the national highways were taken in the past, they could not achieve anticipated success due to several ancillary issues having social and sensitive angles, which included problems about unknown ownership, transportation of cattle, healthcare, first aid treatment during transportation of any injured animals, feeding the cattle till identification of the owner or handing them over to the state government agencies, according to the NHAI statement.
Several courts in various states were also very keen on the holistic resolution of the challenges posed by the movement of stray cattle on national highways. Although control for the root cause of this issue lies in the purview of various departments of respective state governments, NHAI has taken this initiative to address the issue within its jurisdiction, the statement added.
IANS