Unprecedented rainfall in the past few days has had a deadly impact on poultry and livestock farmers in the Kumaon Valley. There were carcasses of hens, ducks, cows, buffaloes, and goats littered in several villages of Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar.
But, Udham Singh Nagar is the most affected area, as 21,000 hens have been swept away and died in the rainwater there alone. The burden has fallen over to the Animal Husbandry Department as they are engaged round the clock in providing compensation to the affected farmers. Now, the battle has become more serious for the department as it is dealing with the surfacing infections among the animals that have survived the heavy washout.
They are organizing medical camps at several places to treat the affected cattle. In order to avert the avian flu and other diseases because of the rotten carcasses, the local administration is supervising the sanitization of the areas that saw mass mortality of birds and animals.
The livestock and poultry farmers of Udham Singh Nagar, Almora, and Champawat are the most affected, who have suffered a loss of around Rs 115 lacs, according to the data collected by the Department of Animal Husbandry.
The data also shows 35 cows, 17 buffaloes and a dozen calves have died and a single farm in Khatima (US Nagar) lost about 200 ducks.
The Director of Uttarakhand’s animal husbandry department, Dr. Prem Kumar said –“The maximum loss was reported from Udham Singh Nagar, where nearly 21,000 hens across 9 poultry farms died. Also, nearly 50 cows, buffaloes and goats have died.”
“Dermatology related issues are now cropping among the animals in the form of infections, fever and cold because of excessive exposure to rains. We are conducting camps across villages to provide care to the affected animals” GS Dhami, Chief Veterinary Officer, US Nagar informed.
This is a pitiful situation for the villagers as they are facing a huge loss at the peak of the festive season. “We have lost 6000 hens in this tragedy, a major loss for us. This would have otherwise been the peak time for us to make money, owing to the festive season” – said Balwant Singh, a poultry farmer from Udham Singh Nagar.
