Recalling how his love for sick and injured cows started, Duggal says: “Owing to my grandmother, I started looking after cows in my childhood. In the year 2000, however, 13 of my like-minded friends found a blind cow, who had trouble moving. Though it could eat by smelling food, it could not drink water as water does not have any smell. It was then we decided to pool in Rs 10,000 each to buy land and construct a shed for old and injured cows.”

He adds: “This cow, who we named Prerna proved lucky for us as we collected Rs 10 lakh for the project. We then met a man who provided us the land on Huambran Road and thus, Govind Gau Dhaam was founded. Later, when Prerna died, we constructed a memorial in Gau Dhaam.”

Duggal, who is also the general secretary of Govind Gau Dhaam and Vrindavan temple, adjoining Govind Gau Dhaam, says the cowshed now houses nearly 2,000 sick, injured and old cows.

“In the entire northern region, there is no such cowshed which provides shelter to such cows. Of course, there are many cowsheds, but they keep only those cows which give milk. Only our cowshed keeps the sick and injured cows,” he claims.