Stray livestock continues to remain a cause of inconvenience in Punakha Thromde. Despite strict rules, unattended cattle and horses freely roam Khuruthang Town and are now causing problems to the district’s town beautification efforts. The Administration last year decided to introduce daily fines on the owners if their animals are found straying about.
One of the frequent visitors at the Punakha Dzong these days has been stray cattle. And they are not alone. There are also horses. The animals come in large numbers.
Without any fences to keep them out, they roam about freely, munching on the flowers and other vegetation planted in the area, and leaving behind huge amounts of dung.
Keeping out the animals and cleaning the place has become a huge challenge.
Officials say despite security at the Dzong chasing them away frequently, the animals still manage to get back in.
“We all know that the Punakha Dzong is a very sacred place. These unattended animals are firstly making it difficult to maintain cleanliness in the dzong area. We have had to deploy separate people to pick up the dung and clean the area,” said Ugyen Tshering, Punakha Dzongrab.
The Police are helping the district administration in cleaning the dzong area. Likewise, the gewog offices also organise cleaning campaigns to help keep the place clean.
Officials say a few animals also died in the dzong area and disposing of them is another headache.
“We have planted so many different kinds of plants and flowers around the Dzong for beautification. Some of those flowers are quite expensive. Though we have staff deployed to monitor the animals, it is still a challenge. We even have the Punakha Police helping us in monitoring the animals,” said Ugyen Tshering, Punakha Dzongrab.
Similarly, animals also loiter along the highway posing a high risk of accidents.
Officials say it is difficult to locate the owners of the animals, as nobody is turning up to claim them.
During the Dzongkhag Tshogdu in August last year, it was decided that anyone found letting loose their animals in the open would be imposed a fine of Nu 1,000 per day. But since people are not coming forward to claim the animals, the animal enclosure has been becoming crowded.
“We are keeping those unattended animals in a temporary shelter in Khuruthang until their owners are found. However, if nobody comes to claim the animals, we take these animals to another space at Goenshari. We have taken almost three truckloads of animals to Goenshari side so far,” said Ugyen Tshering, the Dzongrab.
With most of the municipal staff engaged in dealing with the stray animals, the office says their day-to-day functioning is also getting affected.
“I think we need separate manpower to deal with these animals because our current staff numbers are not enough. We have many other projects to work on such as drinking water supply, sewerage drain work, waste management and so on. Everyone has been assigned responsibilities,” said Kencho Dorji, the municipal engineer of Khuruthang town.
The dzongkhag administration seems to be facing a brick wall but says they will continue to follow protocol, which is to detain the stray animals, fine the owners or take the animals to their enclosure and give them away if there are any interested parties who will take care of the animals properly.
Changa Dorji, Wangdue Phodrang
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
