The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed to increase the fine levied by the corporation to release stray cattle captured from road.

The proposal has been sent to the Housing and Urban Development (H & UD) department and awaiting approval. The BMC is responsible for keeping stray cattle off the roads by taking them to the single kine house. The owner of the cattle has to pay a fine of Rs 100 for releasing the cattle from the kine house. The BMC has proposed to increase the fine to Rs 500 in order to discourage the cattle owners from leaving their cattle unattended.

Despite BMC’s proposal to increase the fine amount, it still lacks manpower to tackle the bovine menace across the city. The BMC has only one kine house in Unit III and one vehicle to pick up the stray cattle from the roads. The path leading to kine house is narrow. “It is difficult to manoeuvre the vehicle on this route to take the cattle to the kine house,” said a BMC official.

Even though the proposal for increasing the fine is yet to get the H & UD department’s approval, BMC mayor A N Jena said the fine amount had been revised two months back. “We have already started penalising the cattle owners with `500 for letting their cattle go astray,” said Jena.

The BMC had also proposed to take up two-acre land on the outskirts of the city to construct a kine house. As per the proposal, the kine house would be constructed on one-acre land and the other acre would be used as a grazing ground for the captured stray cattle.

No progress has been made on the proposal yet. Due to the laxity of the corporation officials in managing the bovine menace, nowadays increasing number of cattle can be seen blocking roads at many places across the city.