Centre’s team to check status of mobile vet units in UP

Lucknow: More than 500 mobile veterinary care units were deputed across UP to handle SOS and emergency calls related to cattle. On Monday, a team of senior officials from the Centre's department of animal husbandry and dairying arrived in the city to assess the ground situation.
Under the ESVHD (Establishment and strengthening of veterinary hospitals and dispensaries) scheme, UP was provided with 520 mobile veterinary units in phases to cater to the bovine population of 5.2 crore.
The agenda is to depute one mobile unit to look after emergency calls and routine treatment pertaining to one lakh cattle.
UP has a population of 1.9 crore cows and 3.3 crore buffaloes, out of which 89 lakh cows and 1.53 crore buffaloes are in-milk, while the remaining are dry.
While the central govt is providing 60% of the funds, the state has to provide the remaining 40% for the ESVHD scheme, which aims to improve the productivity of indigenous cows and buffaloes.
During the review with the principal secretary of the department on Monday morning, the team suggested deputing additional manpower to operate the helpline number (1962) to handle the increased call volume.
It was also found that an average of 8-10 calls are made to every mobile unit in a day. "In comparison, the daily average call volume is on the higher side in other states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat," said a senior officer from the animal husbandry department.
The team from Delhi will visit Raebareli, Meerut, Barabanki and Unnao in the next three days to find out the response time of the volunteers deputed on the mobile units and to evaluate their response to the calls made by cattle owners and farmers seeking treatment for their cattle.
In the coming months, the mobile units will be upgraded to undertake artificial insemination of the cattle.
A team from the urban development department of the state will also study the working of the mobile unit to strengthen its response while dealing with complaints of diseases, accidents and mishaps involving stray animals under the urban local bodies.