Cattle menace on highway poses risk to motorists

TIRUVALLUR: Motorists who frequent the Tiruvallur to Uthukottai highway on an everyday basis have requested the authorities to remove the cattle that cause a lot of inconvenience by laying on the roads and posing a danger to people driving by.

It is an everyday sight to see more than 100 cows grazing around the highway that connects Pullarambakkam, Ambedkar Nagar and Poondi and these cattle sit or stand on the roads during peak hours causing severe traffic jams.

While some motorists risk weaving around the cattle and driving away, others are not so lucky as they end up with injuries after some of the cows run into their bikes or cars all of a sudden.

They also claimed that the situation was much worse at night when the visibility was low and the cattle on the roads caused a lot of accidents to people who did not notice them in the dark and ended up crashing into them.

Following several complaints regarding the issue, Tiruvallur Collector Dr Alby John Varghese had recently passed orders that those owners who allow their cattle to carelessly graze on the roads would be fined and the cattle would be seized and sent to government owned goshalas.

Despite this, the owners have let their cattle loose on the roads posing a risk to the motorists. Owing to this, members of public have requested the concerned authorities to take appropriate action in relation to the issue and ensure that cattle do not roam the roads.