Tirur: With water levels receding in the Bharathappuzha river, once again people have started to junk herds of cattle, many of them destined for slaughterhouses, into the river. During the great deluge last year, around 200 bovines stranded in the middle of the river at Chamravattom and Thirunavaya were rescued by the National Disaster Response Force team.
25 persons were booked and fined for allowing the cows and buffaloes to roam about in the islets that surface with depleting water level. The local bodies have also vowed to take stringent action in this regard. Yet people flout the norms and continue to drive out the cattle in large numbers to 'graze' in the river.
The calves auctioned from the markets are given specific identification markings and let loose in the islets.
The owners take them back only after a couple of months. In the meantime the cows and buffaloes give birth to young ones in the islets. The cattle are stranded at 10 spots in between Kuttipuram and Purathoor areas. The owners are mostly butchers who reap huge profits by not arranging a proper shed for the animals but jettison them in the river for months.
