Haryana plans to be stray cattle-free by August 15

On August 15, as the country will celebrate its 71st Independence Day, the northern state of Haryana would become stray cattle-free.

That is the target that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has set and work to rehabilitate abandoned cattle is already on in a mission mode.

At a meeting here, Khattar said the tagging of 89.3 per cent of cattle in 'gaushalas' and 'nandishalas' (shelters for bovine animals) has been completed and Haryana would be made stray cattle-free by August 15, 2017. The work to rehabilitate abandoned cattle is being undertaken in a mission mode and 27,000 animals have already been accommodated in gaushalas, he said.

A community-driven model has been adopted and the state's 22 districts have been divided into two phases of 11 districts each, he said.

The districts of Nuh, Yamunanagar and Fatehabad have already been declared stray cattle-free, he said.

Unique Identification Numbers are being assigned to each animal during tagging and cow shelter managements and veterinarians are being encouraged to maintain computerised records of these animals, he said.