Lumpy Skin disease
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 31: Former Minister and senior BJP leader, Choudhary Sukhnandan Kumar has demanded free treatment and free medicines for the animals hit by Lumpy Skin disease in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued here today he said thousands of cattle in Union Territory have fallen prey to this dreaded disease since July.
Sukhnandan has also demanded compensation per cattle head to dairy farmers whose milch animals had fallen prey this disease.
“No effort is being made to take concrete steps at the ground level by Animal Husbandry Department, Sukhnandan said, adding that the Department must come forward for the rescue of animals and dairy farmers by compensating them for their cattle loss as well as preventing the further spread of the disease.
Sukhnandan also underlined that the Government must release extra funds to the Animal Husbandry Department with a check on distribution of money for treatment.
Farmers living along the Border and the Line of Control areas in Jammu division say they were being offered almost no help, said Sukhnandan, adding, “I have appealed to the Government for initiating door-to-door campaign, setting up rapid response teams, testing facilities and division-level monitoring and surveillance teams.”
Most of the LSD cases have been reported in Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Rajouri districts. As per the official figures, over 18,500 animals have been infected in Jammu division, out of which around 116 have died so far. The situation is not good in villages. Farmers have complaints that even after contacting the helpline number issued by the Jammu district administration, no help has been received for the infected animals, Sukhnandan said demanding the attention of senior officers in tackling this menace.
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