Congress-ruled Gujarat civic body puts cap on cow excretion

RAJKOT: How much dung should a cow or buffalo excrete daily? For most, the question is irrelevant but not for the Congress-ruled Amreli municipality, which has clamped restrictions on defecation by cattle on public roads. In a strange order issued on December 1, the civic body has set a daily limit of 3kg for an adult bovine and 1kg for calves to excrete dung that too at the specific spots earmarked for them.
What's more, the cattle owners who fail to keep a check on quantity of their animals' excreta will be subjected to a humiliating punishment -they will be paraded on donkey in the town, the order stated.
Calling it an 'exemplary and novel' step taken in 'national interest', the municipality president has said the aim was to help in the mission of 'clean city, clean India and healthy India'.
Bhagirath Trivedi, a BJP leader in Amreli, said, “Such bizarre initiatives to tackle filth can be expected only from Congress.“
Interestingly , a special flying squad will be constituted to measure the size and weight of the cattle dung. Interestingly, a special flying squad will be constituted to measure the size and weight of the cattle dung.
“We have invited opinion of citizens in this regard and we will publish them in coming days,“ Alka Gondalia, president, Amreli municipality told TOI.
The municipality justified the order saying that earlier steps to curb stray cattle menace and littering in the town had yielded no results. Cattle owners have not complied an earlier order which imposed ban on selling fodder on public roads and situation has not improved so far, the order stated.
Paresh Dhanani, Amreli Congress MLA, took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by drawing parallels between dung and black money. “Our party which rules the municipality will strictly en force We believe that if black money can be purged by phasing out Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes then why can't be cleanse our city by clearing it of dungs,“ he told TOI, adding that 95% of people in Amreli are supporting this initiative.