Noida: A 55-year-old man died after his scooter was struck by a stray cow on a Sector 49 road on Monday night, causing him to fall and be run over by a speeding car coming from behind. The car driver has been arrested.Arjesh Kumar, an architect associated with Noida Authority, was returning home to Sector 99 around 8 pm when a cow standing at the roadside near the Sector 49 traffic signal moved suddenly into his path. Kumar, who was not wearing a helmet, lost control and fell. The car behind him, an Innova linked to a tourism company, crushed him. Kumar was taken to Sector 49 hospital, but he died during treatment.The entire sequence was captured on the Innova’s dashboard camera. On Kumar’s brother, Arjun Prajapati’s complaint a case under BNS sections 281 (rash driving), 125(a)(b) (endangering life), and 106 (causing death by negligence) was registered.The incident has renewed concern over stray cattle on the city’s roads. In Feb, software engineer Prakhar Bhardwaj (29) sustained critical brain injuries when his motorcycle collided with a stray bull on a Sector 168 main road. CCTV footage shows Bhardwaj riding along the stretch when his motorcycle suddenly struck a bull walking near the median verge. The collision threw him into the opposite lane, while the bike skidded away across the road. Following that incident, Noida Authority intensified cattle removal drives.These were not separate incidents. In Sept last year, a five-year-old child escaped with minor injuries while his maternal uncle was hospitalised after a stray bull attacked them near C Block Park in Sector Beta 1, Greater Noida. In May, a video showing a herd of buffaloes on the Noida Elevated Road, a high-speed corridor linking Sectors 18 and 60, was shared on social media platforms, as cars, taxis, school buses and two-wheelers cautiously manoeuvred around the animals. Noida Authority had then instructed officials to build two additional sheds in Sector 135 shelter to accommodate about 100 more cows.In July 2024, three people were killed and nine injured in Greater Noida’s Ecotech 3 area after two cars collided, and one of them overturned, while trying to avoid hitting a stray animal.According to residents, cattle are frequently abandoned on public roads once they stop yielding milk, particularly by owners from villages along the city’s fringes. The menace is most acute in sectors 75 to 79, the 10x belt, and areas adjoining urban villages. Authority teams regularly round up stray animals and move them to designated shelters, officials said, but residents say free-roaming cattle remain a daily hazard on arterial roads.Noida Authority OSD Indu Prakash Singh said a cattle-tagging system has been introduced alongside the ongoing removal drives. “The tags will carry the owner’s name. If tagged animals are found on roads or cause any mishap, action will be taken against the owner,” Singh said.Residents in Sector 49 called for stricter enforcement of stray cattle removal and vehicular speeding. “This is a major safety hazard that the authorities need to address urgently,” said a resident, voicing what has become a familiar refrain in cities residential sectors.
