People of Chhumig Gewog in Bumthang and especially the farmers of Gyaltsa village are not happy with Bumthang Municipality’s initiative of seizing stray cattle and horses from Chamkhar town and releasing them in forests nearby their village.
They say the stray animals are a nuisance to them and that the problems would aggravate if the practice is not stopped soon.
“Just because these animals are affecting the cleanliness of Chamkhar town, they are being released here without consulting the people who are going to be affected by this system. Now that there are lots of stray animals here, if one of the cattle rams the fence and break-in, the rest will follow and they will definitely damage our crops someday,” said Shacha, a farmer from Gyaltsa in Chhumig Gewog, Bumthang.
The Bumthang Municipality has been seizing stray cattle and horses since 2 years ago. This year alone the municipality has collected fines from cattle owners for 33 times, some of them being repeated defaulters. Besides, the office has also deported 74 cattle and horses that were not claimed by anyone to various undisclosed locations around the district. Though the initiative has helped maintain cleanliness and decorum in Chamkhar town, the office is facing challenges of its own.
“The stray cattle in the town area has decreased significantly as compared to the situation in the past. However, we are facing difficulties in finding people who can go around the town area and catch stray animals. Moreover, as we don’t have a designated place to release the unclaimed animals, it is really inconvenient for us. Likewise, as we have to feed the animals that are kept with us in enclosures for a week, that is also a challenge for us,” said Kuenzang, the Town Inspector for Bumthang Municipality.
One such problem the municipality is facing now is resistance from local leaders and farmers for deporting and releasing the seized cattle and horses in forests surrounding their villages. In Gyaltsa village of Chhumig Gewog where people alleged the municipality of having released few truckloads of animals above their village, the farmers are facing all sorts of problems associated with the initiative.
“The livestock officials advise us to improve the breed of our cattle but when we actually buy good breeding bulls and try to develop a better quality herd, we are faced with this new challenge of stray bulls disturbing the breeding process,” said Wangchuk, a Farmer from Gyaltsa in Chhumig Gewog, Bumthang.
“The stray cattle sleep on the road as the surface of the road is usually warm and because the highway has now been widened here, most of the cars move at full speed which kills the stray cattle accidentally. Last time 2 cows were killed on the highway near our village and 2 other near Domkhar Bridge. Likewise, another got killed recently. So, about 5 of them were killed on the highway. Moreover, as these cattle are not fed with salt for a long time, they enter our village and eat the clothes that are soaked in detergent and soap” added Karma, from the same village.
However, the municipal office is now looking for solutions. The office has received a budget of Nu. 1.5 M for maintenance of cleanliness in Chamkhar town; seizure and auctioning off the unclaimed cattle and horses being a part of it.
“We are now going to outsource the seizure of cattle and maintenance of cleanliness in Chamkhar town to a private individual through the Nu 1.5 M budget that we have. The system will now be taken care of by the private individual starting December, this year,” added Kuenzang from Bumthang Municipality.
Though the auctioning of the unclaimed cattle and horses is the planned resolution for the issue, there is no clarity as to where the unsold animals will be released hereafter.
The system of seizure of stray cattle and horses from Chamkhar town was introduced in September 2017 after the Dzongkhag Tsogdu resolved to fine those cattle owners whose animals are seized. People can claim their cattle by paying a fine of Nu 1000 per animal within a period of one week from the day of the seizure. The unclaimed animals are usually either auctioned or transported to secluded forests within Bumthang.
Kipchu
