KARIMNAGAR: Kurnool Municipal Corporation witnessed a protest by washermen (dhobis) with their donkeys in tow on Friday, following forcible shifting of the animals from their resting place, citing inconvenience to traffic here.
Further, the protesters broke into tears when the captured donkeys were shifted in lorries without feeding them, which led to their starvation and a couple of them had died.
Donkeys are having a bad time. They are disappearing in several parts of the state due to a huge demand for meat in Vijayawada and surrounding areas.
The washermen families continued a tradition by using donkeys to transport clothes for washing at dhobi ghats and the nearby Tungabhadra and Handri river canals in Kurnool city. In addition, donkeys have also been a part of Ugadi celebrations in Kurnool for decades.
The Kurnool municipal corporation seized donkeys from several parts of the city on Thursday by saying these were disrupting traffic in the city. They were taken away in a lorry but were released after protests from the owners.
On Friday, the washermen led by the Kurnool Rajaka Sangham along with the donkeys reached the KMC office. Its leaders took the animals into the office, shouting slogans against the unsympathetic attitude of KMC authorities.
The protesters lamented that the KMC captured 20 donkeys and that they were kept without water and feeding till the evening. A couple of them died and a few more sustained injuries due to the improper handling while these were shifted to the lorry, the sanghom complained. It demanded action against the errant officials.
