There are three herds on the IIT-B campus, each of around 12-13 cattle

MUMBAI: IIT-Bombay may soon have a shelter to take care of the cattle on its campus. Institute officials and the cow lovers' association on the campus are planning to identify areas that are slightly away from the residential and academic areas for the cattle to roam freely. Thursday's freak accident wherein an intern suffered injuries after being knocked down by two raging bulls has prompted the authorities to act on the long-pending shelter plan. Though the bulls were not charging at the student, he was in their path and was run over.

On Monday, when a BMC van went to pick up the stray cattle near Powai and some staffers tried to capture bulls outside IIT gate, many campus residents opposed them. "They claimed that the bull was from their campus and had ventured out. While one bull was captured, the residents forced the other one inside the campus to protect it from our staffers," said a civic official, who had to approach the Powai police. Senior inspector from Powai police station Anil Pophale said that the cops intervened, and the matter was resolved.

Though the institute plans to provide shelter to the cattle, it will not be a confined space like a gaushala , said dean of student affairs Tapanendu Kundu. He said, "Many on the campus believe that it is their natural habitat, and therefore, they should not be thrown out. We are planning to identify areas where they can be taken care of by the cow lovers' association and cannot venture out towards the academic and residential areas. This way, we can ensure there is no conflict between the two," said the dean.

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