Mumbai: Cow enters hostel room of IIT-B, eats pages of a book

After gatecrashing classroom lectures, IIT's bovine population turns bookworms

Newly emerged photographs of a half-eaten book and a cow inside one of the rooms of hostel number three have added fuel to human-animal conflict raging at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). This comes close on the heels of viral videos of stray cows wandering into the lecture halls of the prestigious institute and news of bulls injuring student inside the campus. These, among other instances, had prompted IIT to form a cattle committee.

A student, on condition of anonymity, said that soon after the incident the images of the half-eaten book and the cow went viral, students reiterating the need to find solution for the cattle menace. Another student added: "It isn't rare to see a cow inside the hostel but one entering a room and tearing book like that is certainly to be alarmed about. It is also important to note that instances with cow are given much importance but there is huge dog menace on campus, especially inside hostels. The institute has to take some steps."

Also Read: IIT-B to find solution to cows, bulls, other animals strolling in classrooms

IIT Bombay's spokesperson dismissed the veracity of the photographs. "It cannot be confirmed if the photo is from inside the IIT Bombay campus. But the cattle committee is working on a war footing to resolve the human-animal conflict," the spokesperson said.

"We have asked security to employ guards to ensure cattle is kept away from academic buildings. We will have to give similar instructions for hostel areas too. But a more fruitful solution would involve restricting movement of the cattle inside campus and for that we need expert assistance. The institute is in talks with NGOs to begin the work as soon as possible."

A stray dog also finds a cosy corner

The spokesperson said that there are talks to form a cattle shelter near the lake where there are large patches of grass. "We also plan to put RFID collars on the cattle and are working on a sterilisation programme to control their population," the spokesperson said.

Also Read: Mumbai: After cow, video shows leopard inside IIT-B campus

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