Gujarat High Court demands state government take immediate action on cattle menace

Ahmedabad, July 11 (IANS) The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday criticised the state government and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for their failure to frame and implement policies or guidelines to control the stray cattle menace.

The court has directed the state government to formulate a policy or issue administrative directions to address this problem throughout the state. The matter has been scheduled for the next hearing on July 19 to assess the state and the AMC's actions in response to the court's directions.

The court's order came in response to a contempt petition that highlighted the non-compliance with orders and directions issued by the High Court in a 2017 public interest litigation concerning traffic management, road conditions, and controlling the menace of stray cattle.

During the proceedings, the municipal corporation informed the bench that although they were considering a policy to tackle the cattle nuisance, it was not approved and was returned to the municipal commissioner for reconsideration in April. The bench also raised concerns about the delay in submitting the proposal for the policy, noting that an assurance had been given by the advocate general representing the state government in a previous order.

However, the court was not convinced by this explanation and questioned why the executive committee had not taken any action in the three months since the policy proposal was returned. The court also criticised the state government for its inaction despite continued deaths and accidents caused by stray cattle.

Justice A S Supehia expressed disappointment over the state's lack of interest in formulating a policy and emphasized the need for concrete action. The court referred to other states like Rajasthan that have implemented policies to deal with the issue and questioned why Gujarat was lagging behind. The court urged the state to make a statement regarding its intentions to frame a policy and implement guidelines.

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