Road Accidents due to stray cattle have become more common than ever in Goa, especially in South Goa. It might be because of careless driving or maybe because now more cattle are found on the road due to excessive afforestation.
Whatever the reason might be, there have been various discussions between the government and animal lovers on this topic with no conclusion and solution till now.
It must be said that cattle, which are dark in color, are unrecognizable in the darkness of the night. These cattle could be either walking or squatting on the road. The drivers also don’t honk at night time which results in accidents that could easily be avoided.
A group in South Goa called ‘Adventures Swaggers Cycling group’ has rightfully taken the initiative to put a reflector radium belt around the neck of all the stray cattle they spot on the roads. This would help in avoiding accidents and also to save so many cattle, if not all.
Since August 8 in 2021, in order to bring down the number of mishaps on the roads, the group which consists of nearly 10 youth initiated this move. These people have spent nearly Rs10,000 on their salaries. They feel that this is their small contribution to providing safety on the roads.
The name of these gentlemen is- Viraj Raikar, Harish Muli, Deepak Kurade, Damodar Mardolkar, Vithal Raikar, Shubham Naik, Vithal Suresh Pawar, Rajesh Patil, Jollyton Fernandes, Deepak Chavhan, Dhananjay Hira- math, Richard, Suraj Naik. All of them are of the age group 18-32 and are ready to work hard to achieve their goal in contributing. Most of these boys are working in the private sector and they cycle every day.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco said “It must be said that instead of spending on the reflector radium belt the youngsters could paint the horns, the tail and even a part of the body of the animal with reflector radium paint. This will be much cheaper and it will be possible to cover more stray cattle in the state.
If youth from other villages take up this initiative, it will make a lot of difference, as far as accidents attributed to stray cattle are concerned.”
While somewhere he is right, but again it’s always good to start, be it just small steps!
