Delhi court offers cowboys cash to round up strays

They may be revered as holy in Hinduism, but in Delhi most people consider the stray cows a menace.

Anyone who has visited the Indian capital will have come across them. They roam the streets and lie down in the most inconsiderate places, including the middle of the city's ring road.

They are a frequent cause of accidents, as drivers swerve to avoid collisions. Cows that are clipped by passing rickshaws can turn aggressive, venting their confused anger on pedestrians.

Almost every year a round-up is ordered, to get them off the streets, and almost every year nothing happens. And the cows stay.

Finally, the Delhi High Court has lost patience with the city authorities, ordering rewards of 2,000 rupees (£26) for every cow that is caught. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) must pay the reward out of its own coffers, and recoup the expense by auctioning the captured cows.

That might not seem a lot of money in Western terms, but it is a handsome offer in a city where that amount is more than half a monthly wage.

"Since the civic authorities have not got any success in ridding the city from cattle, the citizens will have to be involved in this drive," the court said in passing the order. It also ordered the city veterinary officer and cattle catchers to give out their personal telephone numbers so citizens who capture cows can notify them.

The court was considering the case of the stray cattle after a petition by Common Cause, a local NGO.

But any Delhi citizen tempted to get hold of a lassoand head for the streets will have to consider the reaction he risks from the cattle's owners. Although the cows wander the streets like strays, many, in fact, have owners.

The owners take advantage of Hindu culture, in which no one will molest a cow wandering the streets, to graze their cows on Delhi's verges and rubbish dumps for free. It is widely suspected that the reason previous municipal schemes to round up the cattle have failed is because the owners have bribed the cow catchers.

That is probably why the court has ordered the cows to be auctioned off. Those who let their cattle stray will now risk losing ownership of them.