Cattle deaths mount in Barmer, Jaislamer

JAISALMER: Scorching heat and drought in Jaisalmer and

Barmer

districts have spelled doom for the cattle population, with many dying from thirst and lack of fodder.

Following shortage of rains last year, the state government had declared 91% or 2,478 villages in Barmer and 726 villages in Jaisalmer as scarcity-hit.

But despite this, no drought relief works and cattle camps have been set up by the administration. Dozens of cows are dying in various areas on a daily basis.

Ponds have dried up and the water level has gone very low in tanks due to closure of canals.

Jaisalmer district collector Matadeen Sharma confirmed that there was a problem of water and fodder in many villages and that he had received complaints of cattle dying in many places.

Since the monsoon starts only after the second week of July, it is important to arrange water and fodder for cattle in the intervening months.

Barmer district collector Sudhir Sharma too accepted that the situation had become worse. Out of the 2,727 revenue villages in the district, 2,478 of them have been declared scarcity-hit.

Over the last three years, the number of such villages has increased in the district, hitting a peak this year.

This reporter visited many places in the district, including

Chandhan

, Loharki, Ramgarh, Dhaua, Shiplap, Khuhadi, Hatar, Falia, Bairisiyala, Maneli, Myazlar, etc., and found that the condition of livestock had indeed become worse.

In Chandhan area, cattle raiser Laldeen said that there was a heavy shortage of fodder and cows were dying regularly. One can see heaps of carcasses of dead cattle. Some eight to ten cows were dying in the area, according to the villager.

Yakub Khan of Loharki, Mohan Singh and Kailash Dan Singh of Ummedaram, and people from various other villages also confirmed that livestock was dying and they were unable to do anything.

Fodder is costly in the district and the government does not offer any subsidy to cattle raisers. Since ponds and canals have dried up, villagers are not able to provide water or grow grass to feed the cattle.

Following the death of cows, Sangh Parivar outfits Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal have given a memorandum to the tehsildar in Jaisalmer.

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