Cattle eviction: City to relaunch campaign
Animals in city encourage spread of disease: officials.
LAHORE:
The city district government of Lahore will soon resume a campaign to remove cattle from residential areas, officials said.
District Officer (Environment) Tariq Zaman told The Express Tribune that the city government had decided to relaunch the drive, probably next week, after the Lahore High Court vacated a stay order that cattle owners had obtained two years ago, when the campaign was first started by then District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sajjad Bhutta.
He said the city government would impose Section 144 on keeping cows in the city and would advertise the campaign in newspapers and on television as a warning to small farmers. “We will also shift all cattle fodder markets,” he said.
Many people all over Lahore keep cattle, but small farms are most common in Ravi Town, Samanabad, Allama Iqbal Town, Nishtar Town, Aziz Bhatti Town, Wagha Town and some parts of Cantonment.
Cattle are a major source of pollution in the city and their waste blocks sewage lines, which in turn creates a good breeding ground for pests like the dengue mosquito, said Allama Iqbal Town Municipal Officer Muhammad Arif.
But shifting the cattle out won’t be easy, said another city government official on the condition of anonymity. He said that previous attempts had failed because milkmen had resisted.
“They are like a mafia and it won’t be easy to tackle them,” he said.
He said the campaign could not succeed until they were given somewhere to relocate to. He said moving them from the city would also result in less supply and hence higher milk prices. Another problem was that few of the city’s nine towns had cattle pounds in which to hold confiscated animals. He said that nine zones on the outskirts of the city should be designated for milkmen.
Arif, the Iqbal Town TMO, agreed that the campaign would be difficult. He said that officials would have to resist pressure from politicians seeking exemptions for their supporters or voters. He admitted that many city government employees had in the past taken bribes from cattle owners to allow them to continue keeping animals in residential areas.
He said that city government officials would have to coordinate closely with the police. He said Water and Sanitation Agency officials would disconnect pipes running from small cattle farms into sewers as part of the campaign.
Zaman said that Harbanspura and Rakh Chandrai on the outskirts of Lahore were probably the most suitable areas to relocate the cattle owners and milkmen. He said the city government was considering other proposed areas too and would make a decision soon.
He said relocating milkmen to Harbanspura or Rakh Chandrai would not result in increased milk prices as both proposed sites were close to major roads (the Ring Road and Ferozepur Road, respectively) and so supply would not be a problem.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2011.
The city district government of Lahore will soon resume a campaign to remove cattle from residential areas, officials said.
District Officer (Environment) Tariq Zaman told The Express Tribune that the city government had decided to relaunch the drive, probably next week, after the Lahore High Court vacated a stay order that cattle owners had obtained two years ago, when the campaign was first started by then District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sajjad Bhutta.
He said the city government would impose Section 144 on keeping cows in the city and would advertise the campaign in newspapers and on television as a warning to small farmers. “We will also shift all cattle fodder markets,” he said.
Many people all over Lahore keep cattle, but small farms are most common in Ravi Town, Samanabad, Allama Iqbal Town, Nishtar Town, Aziz Bhatti Town, Wagha Town and some parts of Cantonment.
Cattle are a major source of pollution in the city and their waste blocks sewage lines, which in turn creates a good breeding ground for pests like the dengue mosquito, said Allama Iqbal Town Municipal Officer Muhammad Arif.
But shifting the cattle out won’t be easy, said another city government official on the condition of anonymity. He said that previous attempts had failed because milkmen had resisted.
“They are like a mafia and it won’t be easy to tackle them,” he said.
He said the campaign could not succeed until they were given somewhere to relocate to. He said moving them from the city would also result in less supply and hence higher milk prices. Another problem was that few of the city’s nine towns had cattle pounds in which to hold confiscated animals. He said that nine zones on the outskirts of the city should be designated for milkmen.
Arif, the Iqbal Town TMO, agreed that the campaign would be difficult. He said that officials would have to resist pressure from politicians seeking exemptions for their supporters or voters. He admitted that many city government employees had in the past taken bribes from cattle owners to allow them to continue keeping animals in residential areas.
He said that city government officials would have to coordinate closely with the police. He said Water and Sanitation Agency officials would disconnect pipes running from small cattle farms into sewers as part of the campaign.
Zaman said that Harbanspura and Rakh Chandrai on the outskirts of Lahore were probably the most suitable areas to relocate the cattle owners and milkmen. He said the city government was considering other proposed areas too and would make a decision soon.
He said relocating milkmen to Harbanspura or Rakh Chandrai would not result in increased milk prices as both proposed sites were close to major roads (the Ring Road and Ferozepur Road, respectively) and so supply would not be a problem.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2011.