Telangana: Bullock cart owner fined for oxen peeing

Khammam: While civic and police officials fail miserably to penalise people for urinating and defecating in public places, the owner of a bullock cart was fined Rs 100 for an offence committed by his oxen, which are used as draft animals.

The oxen, blissfully unaware of civic etiquette, urinated in front of Singareni Collieries Company Limited's (SCCL) general manager's office.

Sundarlal Loadh, who transports flower pots and soil from one location to another for a living, was caught in an awkward situation when his bullocks began urinating in front of the office, which is located on the road between Kothapoosapalli and Pathapoosapalli.

On the complaint of the SCCL office, a police case was filed against Loadh under Section 290 (public nuisance) of the Indian Penal Code, and he was placed in special magistrate court in Yellandu.

On November 29, he received a notice to pay a Rs 100 fine. The poor man did not have the money on hand. "I didn't have that money on the day, and a constable on duty paid it after I promised to repay it. The cop was generous enough to pay Rs 100,” he said.

Loadh stated that he did not anticipate his bullocks would start urinating in front of the GM’s office. "The bullock cart is my only source of income after I failed to receive adequate compensation for my land at Usirikayalapalli in Karepalli mandal in Khammam district, which has been tilled for four generations,” he said.

“We went to court, and SCCL promised to pay us compensation. However, it did not pay as much as we had hoped,” he said.

People like Sundarlal Loadh question whether officials are taking the law against causing public nuisance seriously, particularly when it comes to humans answering nature's call in public spaces. Among the hard lessons Loadh learnt from this incident was to carry water for cleaning up after his cattle or currency notes to pay fines.