There are 1.3 billion people in India and about 1 billion of them are Hindu. Hinduism is a decentralised religion, but its mythology often refers to cows and their nourishing, sacred role in society.

Although it’s nothing new to see stray cattle wandering through towns or down highways in India, in recent years, things have been getting out of control.

Cattle have been gathering at garbage dumps. Or taking a dip in the River Ganges.

Over the last decade, the situation appears to have got worse. There are now about 5 million stray cattle across India. They are mostly males and often in bad condition – either starving or injured after getting hit by cars.

Until fairly recently, most Indian farmers slaughtered unnecessary cattle. Muslims, of which there are 200 million in India, also openly consumed beef since it was a fairly cheap source of protein.

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The issue was taken up by Modi, who was elected in 2014. Since it is mostly Muslims and minority groups that slaughter cattle and eat beef, the issue appealed to his right-wing Hindu party.

During his presidential campaign, Modi called the slaughtering of cattle and the exporting of beef a “pink revolution”. Since becoming prime minister, he has tightened laws across the 18 states to stop the slaughter of cattle.

The Economist has said Modi had “a fixation with cows”. It said his political party used the cow as a symbol in its efforts to convert India into a Hindu state.

India is the second largest producer of beef in the world, and it is the largest milk producer in the world. So a ban on slaughtering cattle had massive repercussions.

Most dairy cows live up for up to 15 years, but they usually stop producing milk after seven years. Every year in India, around 3 million cows in India stop producing milk.

Cows that can no longer calve or provide milk are seen as a burden by farmers. Before Modi tightened restrictions, these cattle were often sold to Muslim traders and smuggled overseas for their meat and leather.

But now, since they can’t slaughter cattle they don’t need, farmers are simply releasing male calves and unproductive older females.

“People quietly abandon their unproductive cows in the night,” one farmer said.

New technology has also played a part in the country’s boom in stray cattle. Only decades ago, male cattle were vital on a farm – they ploughed fields and provided manure.

But with the development of tractors and chemical fertilisers, they are now largely unnecessary.

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Stray cattle might not sound – or look – too alarming, but when the number gets into the millions, it creates problems.

They often don’t get fed enough and become aggressive. There are regular local news stories about people being mauled by bulls on the street – some have been killed and some have been severely injured.

Stray cattle also cause car crashes. Between 2018 and 2022, in the Indian state of Haryana, more than 900 deaths were caused by cattle on roads.

Stray cattle can carry diseases. Farmers have been known to release diseased cattle since they can’t cull them, which can lead to outbreaks.

This is likely what happened in 2022 when lumpy skin disease affected more than two million cattle.

Stray cattle also raid crops. About 85 per cent of farmers in India own no more than two hectares of land, meaning any damage to their crops has long-term impacts.

Some farmers built fences or paid guards to protect their land, but this is unaffordable for most.

Anjani Dixit, the head of a farming association in Uttar Pradesh, told National Geographic that “a herd can destroy the whole crop in just an hour”.

Instead, many farmers must guard their farms overnight to ensure cattle don’t eat anything.

One farmer named Ashok Kumar, who had to escort a stray herd off his farm, told Bloomberg the government had made his life “miserable”.

“If we beat cows for destroying crops, we might go to jail and won’t get bail for months,” he said. “It’s the people abandoning the cows who should be behind bars.”

Between 2015 and late 2018, 44 people were killed by vigilantes and another 280 people were injured.

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What makes the situation even worse is that in most cases, local police failed to follow up. At times, they have even been accused of being complicit in the crimes, according to Human Rights Watch.

Modi himself did not come out and condemn the attacks until August 2018.

“I want to make it clear that mob lynching is a crime, no matter the motive,” he said.

In Uttar Pradesh, locals are required to report any dead cows to the local authorities. Any deaths that raise suspicion require a postmortem.

Between 2014 and 2016, Modi’s government also spent about US$41 million building cow sheds called gaushalas to hold stray cattle. There are now more than 5,000 gaushalas across India. But, according to the BBC, it’s not enough.

Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh, the government is planning on creating a cow sanctuary covering 130 acres.

Some farmers have also started artificially inseminating cows to almost guarantee the sex of their calves – meaning they would stop having as many male calves, but it’s an expensive solution.

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Vallabh Kathiria, the former chairman of India’s agency to protect and promote cows, told National Geographic the plan was to make stray cows into a symbol of something good.

He wanted people to “feel like they’ve found a gold ornament” when they see one, he said. But it’s hard to believe perception alone will be enough to solve this widespread issue.