Taking cognisance of the burden of stray cattle in the lone stray cattle shelter (Kanji house) situated in Kedarpuram, the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) is to build another Kanji house in the city soon. Officials of the MCD on Thursday stated that the work of finding the land for this purpose is under process. The construction of the new stray cattle shelter will start soon after the land is selected.

The Dehradun municipal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said, “The number of cattle in the Kanji house is way too more than the actual capacity of it. Taking care of these many cattle and providing resources is a tough task for us. We are planning to build another Kanji house in the city for which municipal officials are currently identifying suitable land. The construction will start soon after the land is finalised.”

Appealing to the people for taking care of their cattle he said, “The local people leave their cattle on the road which becomes a problem for us to handle. I want to request the people especially dairy owners to not do this. If a person will be caught doing this then strict action will be taken by us.”

According to information provided by official sources, the budget to build a new Kanji house will be about Rs 8,00,000. Currently, the lone Kanji house functioning in the city has a capacity for sheltering 70 stray cattle but is being used to hold about 300 such cattle. Also, MCD has been failing to provide adequate staff and equipment for this purpose. After the wards under MCD were increased from 60 to 100 the number of stray cattle has also increased in the area under the purview of the MCD.