Visakhapatnam: The death of 22 cows as a lorry overturned at Gorlesitarampuram village in Bobbili mandal on Sunday exposed the rackets in smuggling of cattle from north coastal Andhra and South Odisha to various states and occasionally to Bangladesh.
Reports said the lorry was carrying a full load of adult cows from Rayagada to Telangana. When it came to Vizianagaram district, the vehicle driver came across a road of potholes and inundated with stormwater. While he attempted to cross the stretch, the vehicle overturned.
While 22 cows died, several others were injured. The accident blocked the road and caused a traffic jam in which hundreds of vehicles carrying people home for the festival were stranded.
Illegal transportation of cattle is a flourishing business in the region and the police in north coastal Andhra Pradesh are often bribed to get the cattle through.
The problem is also that when the cattle are seized, the district administration faces the problem of sheltering them either temporarily or permanently.
After the Visakha Society for Protection and Care of Animals (VSPCA) moved the AP High Court in 2010, the court asked the AP government to set up shelters in all the districts.
“A shelter was set up in Kasulavada in Anandapuram to an extent of five acres, but does not have a single cow. We saw a barbed wire fencing and a small thatched house,’’ said VSPCA founder president Pradeep Kumar.
Talking to Deccan Chronicle on Sunday, he said, “The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act says transporters must have a valid certificate from a veterinarian from the point of origin and the vehicles should halt along the route for water and feed. Not more than six large animals are allowed to be transported in a lorry, or about 12 calves.”
“Sometimes, more than 40 cattle are being loaded onto a truck and transported for thousands of kilometres without giving them food or water,'' the activist said.
