Government masked cattle death nos. from lumpy disease: Activists

JAIPUR: Even as over 72,000 cattle deaths have been reported from Rajasthan from lumpy skin disease, cow shelters working in the state said that the official death figures were just 10-20% of the actual deaths that have taken place in Rajasthan.
Members associated with Pathmeda Gaushala, the state’s biggest cow shelter and Rajasthan Gauseva Samiti said that at least 5 lakh cows have died since the lumpy outbreak was first reported in Rajasthan.
It accused the state government of under-reporting the death figures and only recording deaths at facilities or cow shelters where records are maintained.
As of Sunday, over 15.36 lakh cases of lumpy skin disease have been reported from the state and 72,446 cattle deaths recorded. As per the Directorate of Gopalan department’s website, the total cattle population in Rajasthan is 12,28,010, registered in different cow shelters.
Raghunath Rajpurohit, general secretary of Rajasthan Gauseva Samiti, said, “Just last month we held a meeting in Jodhpur where members of cow shelters from across the state had participated.
In that meeting we learnt that minimum 5 lakh cows have died, and this is a figure from the big cow shelters or those who were completely dependent on income by selling milk or dairy products. There is no count of how many stray cattle have died due to the virus. The government figure of 70,000 deaths is gravely hiding the ground reality.”
“We have been in touch with the chief minister continuously and suggested him measures, but till a proper state-wide survey is conducted with the help of officials from the revenue department and animal husbandry department, the exact extent of the outbreak cannot be guessed. At least till now, there should have been a proper prescription for treatment if not vaccines; but at most rural areas people are relying on home remedies for treating their cattle,” added Rajpurohit.
He further alleged that on groundwork is hampered because the Gopalan department does not have enough staff and all work is done by the animal husbandry department.
NGOs working in Jaipur and nearby districts also said that on an average they get at least ten calls for help daily and send out medicines for at least 100 cows daily.
“Definitely the situation on ground is very grave and because the infection has spread to almost all districts now, vaccination is not being conducted anywhere as it is not help. Now, people are relying on medicines or ayurvedic treatment for lumpy skin disease. We send out medicines for at least 100 cows daily to either places in Jaipur district itself or nearby districts,” said Narendra Singh Rajpurohit from Apeksha Foundation.
Officials from state animal husbandry department said that they are in the process of finalising a methodology to conduct a state-wide survey to assess the actual number of deaths.