Since Yogi Adityanath became chief minister, UP has witnessed an acute problem of stray cattle

The Uttar Pradesh government has withdrawn a controversial order that asked junior engineers from the state's PWD or Public Works Department to turn stray cattle catchers for a day, when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visits the eastern UP district of Mirzapur on Wednesday. The district administration in Mirzapur says they will inquire into why the order handing out such work to engineers was given in the first place.

"Stand with 8-10 ropes and your team of subordinates. If you see any stray cattle on the roads, tie them up with the ropes and keep them that way. Let UP Chief Minister Adityanath pass unhindered," the single page government order signed by an Executive Engineer reads. The order was issued on Monday. In the order, eight junior engineers with the PWD were assigned similar cattle catching duties. In normal course, PWD engineers are supposed to design, construct and maintain roads and bridges in their work area.

Yogi Adityanath is likely to visit the east UP district on Wednesday, as part of the UP government's Ganga Yatra that is happening right now across the district - the yatra is focusing on cleaning the Ganga river that passes through Mirzapur.

"We are already acting against stray cattle. This was because of a misunderstanding. The order has been withdrawn," Sushil Kumar Patel, the District Magistrate of Mirzapur, told reporters a few hours ago.

But just hours before the order was withdrawn by the government, the PWD department that issued the order had given a detailed explanation for turning engineers into cattle catchers. "We gave the order for security reasons. Anyone can catch a cow. You just need to tie a rope around it. A lot of these people are from villages where they do all this. They know how to catch cows," the Executive Engineer who gave the order was filmed saying to local journalists.

Since Yogi Adityanath became chief minister, the state has witnessed an acute problem of stray cattle, arguably because of severe restrictions on the sale and transportation of cattle. The government has spent crores in building shelters for stray cattle in villages - but with mixed success. There is even a scheme for the adoption of stray cattle in place, but getting engineers to catch stray cattle is a first.