The students of IIT-Bombay are no strangers to stray cattle roaming about the premises of the institute. There has been an instance of a student being attacked by stray bulls outside the hostel on campus and one of a cow leisurely strolling into a lecture hall. Instead of being one-off, rare incidents, this has turned into quite a serious problem with a cattle committee being set up.
News18 reports that a stray cow recently entered a student’s room in hostel number three and ate part of a book.
Mid Day quoted a student saying,
“It isn’t rare to see a cow inside the hostel but one entering a room and tearing book like that is certainly to be alarmed about. It is also important to note that instances with cow are given much importance but there is huge dog menace on campus, especially inside hostels. The institute has to take some steps.”
However, the authorities questioned the authenticity of the viral images by saying, “It cannot be confirmed if the photo is from inside the IIT Bombay campus. But the cattle committee is working on a war footing to resolve the human-animal conflict.”
“We have asked security to employ guards to ensure cattle is kept away from academic buildings. We will have to give similar instructions for hostel areas too. But a more fruitful solution would involve restricting the movement of the cattle inside campus and for that, we need expert assistance. The institute is in talks with NGOs to begin the work as soon as possible.”
“We also plan to put RFID collars on the cattle and are working on a sterilisation programme to control their population.”
We hope that the cattle committee can come up with a plan soon that provides a safe haven for the stray animals and also ensures the safety of students studying at the institute.