Meerut, April 24 -- Spread across 50 acres of forest land near a village in Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh now has its first cow sanctuary that can accommodate up to 5,000 cattle, animal husbandry officials said.

Built as part of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the facility, located in the Purkaji area of the district, will be operated by the Govardhan Cow Service Committee. Its objective is to tackle stray cattle menace, and promote livestock development, farmers' welfare and rural entrepreneurship, the officials added.

At present, the state has over 14 lakh stray cattle (1.30 lakh in urban and semi-urban areas) housed across 8,381 conservation centers, according to government data. Al...