Cattle eviction campaign fails

LAHORE - The City District Government has failed to get desired results from its much-hyped cattle eviction campaign aimed at freeing urban areas from cattle as well as their effects.
The CDG launched cattle eviction campaign in collaboration with town municipal administrations to free urban areas of Lahore from cattle about six months back. The CDG identified 98 out of 150 union councils as cattle free zones. The people can keep cattle in rural areas (from UC99 to UC 150) and in Shahdara.
The CDG planned to construct enclosures at town level to keep cattle confiscated from urban areas but it did not happen, thus leaving no other option for the TMAs but to release cattle after imposing fine on owners.
“The cattle eviction campaign has not brought desired results. The TMAs have no proper place to keep cattle confiscated from urban areas. The CDG has yet to implement its plan of constructing enclosures at town level for keeping confiscated cattle. As such they have no other option except releasing cattle after imposing fine up to Rs 2,000. These cattle reenter urban areas and continue to create problems for people,” admitted a CDG official. He said that the campaign has been launched without proper planning which lead to its failure like the previous exercises. The defunct Municipal Corporation Lahore launched massive cattle eviction campaign in 1997 but the buffaloes reemerged in urban areas after the conclusion of the drive.