Noida: Days after a motorcycle crash involving a stray bull left a software engineer critically injured, Noida Authority had intensified its drive to remove stray cattle from key stretches. Officials said 125 stray cattle were impounded from across the city in Dec and 147 more in Jan. On Feb 10, after Prakhar Bhardwaj (29) crashed into a bull that was walking right in the middle of the main Sector 168 road and suffered severe head injuries, four more stray cattle were removed from the area.Officials said stray cattle are often abandoned once they stop yielding milk. “Several villages are located along the city’s fringes, and owners frequently release unproductive cattle onto public roads,” the official said. “Our teams regularly round up such animals and move them to designated shelters. Where ownership is established, a fine of Rs 10,000 is levied before release. These drives are conducted routinely, but sustained public cooperation is vital for long-term results.“Officials said the problem is most pronounced in sectors 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 10X and in areas adjoining urban villages.Despite these efforts, residents say free-roaming cattle remain a daily hazard on arterial roads. Neeraj, who takes the Sector 78 road to reach his office, said people pull over cars routinely to feed cattle right at the T-point. “Naturally, the cattle keep returning, and their numbers grow day by day. It ends up creating a public safety hazard as drivers try to navigate around animals at a busy junction. It’s becoming chaotic and risky for commuters,” he said.A cab driver who regularly ferries late-night office-goers told TOI that the stretch near Sectors 77–78 has become especially dangerous after dark. “I do late-night drops almost every day, sometimes around 2am. On this stretch, I regularly encounter 10 to 12 cattle sitting or wandering in the middle of the road. Visibility is already poor at that hour, and the animals are nearly impossible to spot from a distance. One moment the road seems clear; the next, I have to slam the brakes to avoid a crash. What’s most frustrating is the lack of even basic safety measures, such as reflective collars,” he said.Another problem begins after local vegetable markets shut for the night. Around the Sector 77–78 belt, heaps of leftover greens are dumped along the roadside, drawing cattle in large numbers. “Within minutes, they occupy the carriageway and refuse to move, turning the stretch into a choke point for drivers, especially those on late shifts,” said a Sector 78 resident.
