Kathmandu, Oct. 25 -- The first thing one notices these days while travelling by road in the Tarai are hundreds of cattle blocking the East-West Highway, mainly at intersections like Atariya or Kohalpur.
The 'cow emergency' hit the headlines in September, when 24 cows were found dead below the highway in Surkhet and hundreds of others were wandering in the jungles. Police investigation revealed that the cattle were being transported from Nepalganj to Dailekh as part of an effort by the municipality to reduce the population of street livestock.
What few people know is that dozens of cattle had died earlier this year when Sukla Phanta Municipality near Dhangadi spent Rs5.5 million to round up cattle and put them in shelters, where most of ...