Police and the National Highways Authority of India have together taken up an initiative to stop trespassing of cattle on NH2 near Durgapur and Asansol towns as animal movements often lead to accidents.

Sources have said NH2 passes through thickly populated human habitats outside the two towns. At least 100 cowsheds have come up on either side of the highway as khatals are banned in municipal areas.

Police said they had appealed to cattle shed or khatal owners not to allow cows and buffalos to trespass on the road.

“Cattle crossing the highway often lead to accidents and it is also illegal. Now, we are appealing to and counselling the cattle shed owners. But later, we will take legal action for obstructing traffic if they do not pay heed to us,” said Pushpa Sheoran, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Asansol-Durgapur commissionerate.

The cows and buffalos cross the highway for grazing. “Sometimes, they suddenly appear in front of speeding vehicles and drivers lose control,” said a police officer.

The NHAI has said the average speed of light vehicles on the highway is now between 80km and 100km per hour after it was converted to a six-lane road between Panagarh and Dhanbad. They said the process of installing guard railings between the service road and the highway on either side was almost complete.

“We have installed guard railings along the highway to stop trespassing of animals as well as people which obstruct speeding vehicles. In some areas, we could not set up service roads and guard railings yet because of land issues. We are trying to sort out the problem through discussions with the local administration,” said Arindam Handik, the project director of the NHAI in Durgapur.

Handik said such an initiative couldn’t succeed without the cooperation of the police. “In some areas, local people have removed the railings to cross the highway illegally or they also could have been stolen. We are holding meetings with the police in this regard and getting good response from them,” he said.

Sources in the traffic department of Asansol-Durgapur police commissionerate said at least a dozen cases of road accidents related to trespassing of animals had been reported in the past six months along the 80km stretch between Panagarh and Barakar.

Milan Kanti Ghosh, 42, a manager of a contractor in Durgapur, sustained severe head injuries when the car he was driving overturned on NH2 in Asansol on September 15. He is now on ventilation at a private hospital.

“The situation turns worse after sunset when the cattle return to sheds after grazing,” said Debasish Chowdhury, a resident of Durgapur.