Concerned with the stray cattle menace in the state, Himachal Pradesh will develop a ‘Mobile App’ through which people could upload the photographs of stray cattle.

The directions to develop the ‘Mobile App’ was given by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to the Animal Husbandry Department, while presiding over a meeting of the Gau Seva Aayog at Shimla on Friday evening.

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“On receiving the complaint, the information will be shared with the Senior Veterinary Officer, Veterinary Officer and Pharmacist of the concerned block and it will be their responsibility to take these deserted animals to Gau Sadans,” said the Chief Minister.

The people would also be able to complain about stray animals on the Mukhyamantri Seva Sankalp Helpline-1100, he added.

Stressing on the need to sensitize the general public about the helpline and its role in curbing the menace of stray cattle, he said the present government has accorded priority to initiate steps for the welfare of abandoned cattle.

He directed the Animal Husbandry Department to make proper arrangements for providing shelter to stray cattle.

The Chief Minister said that according to the 20th animal census, the number of such animals in the state was 36,311, out of which 20,203 deserted cattle have been provided shelter in various Gau Sadans and still 9117 such animals are roaming freely on the roads creating threat to the commuters.

In order to provide shelter to these animals, there is a need to strengthen the infrastructure of the existing Gaushalas, he said, adding that the officials of the Animal Husbandry department were directed to identify the appropriate land for grazing and water bodies with the help of the forest department.

Besides constructing night shelters for the animals with sufficient staff to look after them, he also directed the officers of the department to come up with a blueprint regarding strengthening of infrastructure for such deserted cattle within 10 days.

“The government is working with a resolve to provide shelter to these cattle and in order to facilitate farmers and reduce the cases of road accidents due to stray cattle, the government is strictly dealing with this problem and the paucity of funds would not be a hurdle,” said the Chief Minister.

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister, Chander Kumar said that the departmental officers should seriously work to solve the problem of stray animals and also take the help of NGOs in addressing the menace. He stressed on taking practical steps and completing the assignment within the given time frame.