Gopalamitras on strike as floods hit livestock hard in East Godavari

KAKINADA: Livestock has been suffering in the East Godavari district due to floods. In several villages, there is no feed for the animals as the entire area is underwater. If the situation continues, the farmers and cattle owners could be losing their livestock. At the same time, Gopalamitras - the livestock service providers - are on strike demanding employment guarantee.

As a result, farmers and cattle owners are incurring losses. A buffalo has swept away in floodwater at G Pedapudi village in P Gannavaram Mandal and a cow reportedly died of snakebite, according to officials of the Animal Husbandry department. At several places, there was no food for the animals because agricultural fields were submerged. Villages on the banks of River Godavari were affected by the floods. In a bid to save cattle, farmers have taken them to nearby villages and left them at their relatives’ homes. The East Godavari district has approximately six lakh buffaloes, 3.5 lakh white cattle, roughly three lakh goats and another three lakh sheep.

According to revenue sources, 207 villages were affected by floods in the district. Heavy flood inflows have been reported in P Gannavaram, Katrenikona, Mummidivaram, Sakhinetipalli, Kothapeta, Rajahmahendravaram Rural, Seethanagaram, Devipatnam, Yetapaka, Rampachodavaram and Ramachandrapuram mandals.

Floods have affected agriculture and horticulture production. The lives of animals are under threat as there is feed is not available for them. As a result of this, animal husbandry district joint director Dr NT Srinivasa Rao asked the government to provide feed to the livestock. The State government has released 72 metric tonnes of total mixed ration (TMR) feed for the cattle. The entire stock had been sent to Devipatnam and Yetapaka divisions, because there was no other way to save the cattle. Meanwhile, the Gopalamitras have been on strike for the last eight days. They are demanding regularisation of their services through the grama secretariat recruitment process.