Chennai: Dismayed motor-cycle riders can relax now. Cattle owners who allow their cows to graze on city roads and posing a threat to the bikers will end up paying more penalty soon, as the Greater Chennai Corporation has decided to increase the fine levy to 10 times.
It is learnt that a decision had been taken at a recent special council meet to increase the fine to Rs 10,000 from Rs .1000 and collect Rs 750 for maintaining the cattle for 3 days.
According to a Chennai Corporation official, the civic body has imposed a penalty of Rs 1000 for cattle less than 3 years of age and Rs 1250 for cattle above 3 years. Though the Chennai Corporation would hand over the cattle to NGOs for permanent maintenance after 3 days, if the cattle owner failed to pay the penalty, the officials continue struggling to curb the stray cattle issue.
Presently, we have no rules to punish the repeat offenders. If the same cattle caught again, the owners could pay the same amount of fine that they paid during the first time, the official said.
“To check the repeat offenders, we will make a mark in the cattle's ear. If the same cattle caught again, it will be handed over to NGOs. Then the cattle owner will lose his cow,” the official said.
However, the increase in the penalty would be brought into effect from the 2018-19 financial year. “There are some incidents when corporation officials were attacked by some cattle owners. To safeguard themselves from such attacks, the official will seek local police help while catching stray cattle,” the official added.
