UDAIPUR: In an effort to save starving cows from eating plastics on roads, the civil society and Dungarpur Municipal Corporation (DMC) have embarked on an initiative of door-to-door food collection for the cows.Volunteers are appealing to the people to donate a roti daily in the name of cow so that the collected food may reach hundreds of hungry cows and prevent them from straying on the roads, eat from garbage bins, foraging for fruit, vegetable leftovers, anything edible and anything smelling like food. On Tuesday, 11 lorries and autos made rounds in various colonies and streets in Dungarpur city and collected food from households and served it to stray and orphaned cows.“ Cow is a revered animal as per Hindu belief and it had been a very old tradition practiced in each household to give the first ‘roti’ made everyday for feeding cows. We are trying to revive the tradition which many people have tend to forget or do not care to follow” said Milan Sharma, a social activist behind the campaign.“ Since plastic bags have invaded our lives, almost all garbage and food waste is disposed in plastic bags. These bags spill out either on the road or from municipality dustbins. Since the plastic bags are knotted at the mouth, cows, unable to undo the knot, eat food leftovers including the plastic. Slowly, over time, they build up a huge amount of plastic inside their stomachs. It gets entangled with different materials and it becomes hard like cement inside their rumens, which is the first belly of the cow” Jaswant Singh Ahada, Dy director of the Animal Husbandry department said.“ We have held a meeting with the agency authorized for door-to door garbage collection. They will now also take the responsibility of food collection in a separate container attached with the vehicles so that people find ease in donating rotis for the cows on a daily basis” K.K Gupta, the municipality chairman said. Volunteers are spreading the word by outreaching people in colonies, offices and making them pledge to donate food for cows. To spread the awareness on the campaign, text and voice messages would be broadcasted and pamphlets would be distributed in the second phase, Milan Sharma informed.