The Hindu : New Delhi News : Now microchips to track cattle

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Thursday, Mar 13, 2008
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New Delhi

Now microchips to track cattle

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: In a bid to check the increasing number of stray cattle on the Capital’s roads, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will now tag each animal with a microchip to facilitate easy tracking and keep a tab on their mortality.

At a meeting of the MCD Standing Committee here on Wednesday, Veterinary Officer V.K. Singh said a microchip would be planted in the belly of each animal at a cost of Rs.475 each and the tagged animals would be housed in cow shelters where they would not prove to be an impediment to traffic.

“Messrs Everest had earlier been awarded the contract for tagging animals. But that agency did not provide information to the civic body regarding the number and nature of the animals rounded up. The new agency, Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited, has assured us that it will provide us comprehensive data regarding the tagged animals. The entire process will start by April 1,” he said. The Committee also passed a proposal to float tenders for 1,257 of the 1,544 sanitation complexes that were earlier being maintained by Sulabh International.

MCD Standing Committee Chairman Vijender Gupta said, “The sanitation blocks will be allotted to the bidder for seven years on a build-operate-transfer basis. The agency concerned will be allowed to advertise in the washroom premises to generate revenue.”

Mr. Gupta also informed about the World Bank-proposed scheme to utilise MCD landfill sites for harvesting residual gases for commercial purposes and also acquiring carbon credits for the civic body. “As per World Bank guidelines, a feasibility report will be prepared by a selected company that will formulate an exhaustive blueprint of the optimised process and the required set-up ,” he added.

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