Chandigarh, February 8
A notification issued by the Government of India banning the use of bulls as performing animals has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the adrenaline pumping bullock cart races at the 76th Kila Raipur Games that are slated to kick off at Kila Raipur village in Ludhiana tomorrow. 

Animal Welfare Board of India, (AWBI), Ministry of Environment and Forests, has written to Subodh Chandra Agrawal, Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, asking him to ensure bullock cart races are not organised at the Kila Raipur games, also known as mini rural Olympics. 

While the four-day rural sports extravaganza - a heady mix of Olympics and the traditional sports events - is set for a spectacular start, Agrawal said he had not received any such communiqué from the AWBI. “I will look into it as soon as I get it,” he said. 

The letter written by Vinod Kumar, assistant secretary of the AWBI, says that the Government of India notification dated 11.07.2011 issued under Section 22 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, bans the use of bulls as performing animals. 

“Hence, the bullock cart races are illegal and have to be stopped. They involve violations of Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and constitute a contravention of the Government of India notification of 11.07.2011,” states the communiqué. 

While the notification was issued in July last year, the organisers have been caught off guard. It is for the first time that the sports extravaganza is being held in sprawling seven-acre stadium, 17 km south of Ludhiana after the ban. Jagbir Singh Grewal, an office-bearer of Grewal Sports Association that organises the sports carnival every year, said he was disappointed that the issue was being raised during Kila Raipur games that had brought the state on the tourist map not only in India but abroad. The event is watched by over one lakh spectators. It is viewed on TV not only in India but Canada and England also. 

“We will ensure that we do not flout any rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,” he said.

“You have no idea how these participants rear their bullocks. These are fed on grams, high protein diet, nuts and milk,” says Grewal. Prized bullocks worth lakhs of rupees, galloping down with jockeys balancing precariously on their specially crafted carts are arguably a major attraction at the sporting event.