Ahmedabad, Aug 24 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to take note of the schemes and guidelines of Goa and Himachal Pradesh concerning the stray cattle menace so that the issue is tackled effectively and the lives of human beings as well as animals are saved.

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The division bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shastri also mentioned the 'Maharashtra Keeping and Movement of Cattle in Urban Areas (Control) Act, 1979', and said it hopes that it receives the attention of the lawmakers in Gujarat to meet the objective.

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The court said that it has taken a judicial note of the fact that a similar problem of stray cattle menace was prevalent in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Goa which resulted in the respective governments coming out with specified schemes/policies to tackle the problem.

Goa came out with a scheme known as the 'Goa Stray Cattle Management Scheme, 2013 (Modified).' In Himachal Pradesh, a policy was evolved to tackle the problem of stray cattle and guidelines in this regard were issued, the court said.

"This court hopes and trusts that in the state of Gujarat the state government would come up with either a policy of guidelines to ensure this problem is tackled and thereby the lives of cattle is also protected and so also the lives of citizens," it said.

The court also directed the member secretary of the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority to prepare a report on the issue of cattle menace in urban areas. The report will focus on the stray cattles found on roads, pavements and open spaces in the city of Ahmedabad. The matter was kept for next hearing on August 29.

The petitioners highlighted that stray cattle roaming on roads has resulted into several deaths and injuries, with the cases increasing during the monsoon.

The high court's directive came on the day when the issue of stray cattle menace came up for discussion in the state cabinet. The Gujarat government said on Wednesday that it has made the provision of temporary cattle sheds to keep such animals, for which the owners do not have arrangement because of waterlogging and moist soil due to rainfall.

The state government will fully take care of the cattle sheds and also bear the cost of the transportation of animals to such facilities.

Cow sheds will be constructed in eight municipal corporations and 156 municipalities of the state. A separate provision of Rs 10 crore will be made for that and the amount will be increased if necessary, the government said in a statement.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)