One animal can fetch up to Rs 400, said one KMC official, adding that the metropolis collected Rs250,000 by auctioning off 338 cattle in the last fiscal year. The animals sold off in auction are usually transported out of the Valley.

“We have initiated the drive against stray cattle concerned with the nuisance created by them on the roads,” said Dhanapati Sapkota, chief of the Implementation Department at KMC.

Despite KMC’s effort to rid stray cattle of the streets of Kathmandu, managing them still remains a major challenge; animals still wander the streets, obstructing the traffic and sidewalks of the Valley.

One way of managing the stray cattle is setting up an animal market, suggested Sapkota.

Male bovines are usually abandoned by their owners and they end up living out on the streets. Stray cattle occupying the road is a common site in Kathmandu. They not only disrupt the traffic, but sometimes cause road accidents.

“The concerned authorities need to be actively involved in managing the animals on the streets to minimise accidents,” said Basant Pant, spokesperson at the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division.

According to Clause 20 of the Soil and Watershed Conservation Act 1982, authorities may auction off a four-footed animal without the owner.