PALAKKAD: The strict enforcement of the law restricting the number of cattle that can be transported in a vehicle through the checkposts into Kerala have exposed how the cattle traders are avoiding the border checkposts and prefer to slip in through various parallel roads. The data on revenue collections at various checkposts obtained by Express prior to the implementation and post enforcement of the order of the Transport Commissioner points to the huge revenue loss the state is incurring due to the illegal transportation via bye routes and parallel roads not only by cattle traders but also by poultry traders and other dealers. The results of the enforcement of cattle overload are: Loss of revenue to the Animal Husbandry Department which has seven checkposts at Walayar, Velanthavalam, Gopalapuram, Govindapuram, Meenakshipuram and Nadupunni on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Additional revenue at the checkposts of the Motor Vehicles Department which has already collected a fine of `1 lakh in the last one month from those who stuffed cattle into lorries. A vehicle from Tamil Nadu to Kerala has to pass through the RTO checkpost, rinderpest checkpost of the Animal Husbandary Department, checkpost of the Forest Department, Excise checkpost and finally the sales tax checkpost at Walayar. According to the directive of the Transport Commissioner dated March 5, 2012, not more than 6 cattle in small vehicles and 12 in large lorries are allowed to transport. It stipulates that each cattle should have a floor space which is 2 metre long and one metre wide in the vehicle. This directive has been implementing since March 10, 2012. “We have been strictly enforcing the order inspite of shortage of manpower. At the Walayar checkpost alone we collected a fine of `1 lakh in the last one month from cattle traders for overloading the vehicle. The lorries carrying cattle earlier used to cross the state border between 9 pm and 12 midnight ,but now they are crossing the border between 3 am and 6 am. Even on Wednesday morning, a fine of `5,000 each were collected from four lorries for overloading,“ said regional transport officer C Radhakrishnan. “Some lorries carry up to 32 cattle. The animals suffer injuries at many parts of the body and some of them even death occurs when some jump out due to suffocation. The animals are not properly tethered to the vehicle or provided adequate floor space. The laws like the Transport of Animal Rules, 1978, the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the Motor Vehicles Act are often grossly violated’” said P K Narayanan, secretary of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
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