Floods in North Gujarat have resulted in large scale death of cattle leading to a huge drop in milk production.
Banaskantha, Gujarat:
The floods in North Gujarat have not only caused damage to property and loss of human life, but has also led to thousands of cattle perishing, that has affected the milk production adversely in one of the largest milk producing regions of the state.
In Banaskantha district's Dama village, cattle owners like Deenu Desai are struggling to make ends meet as their homes have been washed away. His only source of livelihood were his cows, two of which drowned in the flash floods, the remaining six are struggling for fodder.
"There is no government help. We don't have fodder for our cattle. They are falling ill and I fear I will lose the remaining cattle as well,'' lamented Mr Desai.
Despite the district being one of the largest producers of milk, large scale death of cattle has made matters worse due to huge drop in milk production.
The administration is worried and counting the toll, senior government official DK Rana said, "Talking about the cattle loss... so far 6686 cattle have died in our district alone... we have managed to dispose off 6230 dead cattle."
According to the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing federation or GCMMF, that owns the popular brand "Amul", the district used to produce 33 lakh litres of milk daily, but it had dropped down to as low as four lakh litres during the floods in the last two weeks. With floods receding for the past few days, the milk production has not gone up to almost 20 lakh litres now.
Even the neighbouring district of Mehsana has seen a decrease of milk production by about 2 lakh litres daily.
The administration claims that compensation would be provided to the cattle owners. But for those who have lost their cattle stock, till the government comes good on their assurances, it is unlikely to cheer them up.
In Banaskantha district's Dama village, cattle owners like Deenu Desai are struggling to make ends meet as their homes have been washed away. His only source of livelihood were his cows, two of which drowned in the flash floods, the remaining six are struggling for fodder.
"There is no government help. We don't have fodder for our cattle. They are falling ill and I fear I will lose the remaining cattle as well,'' lamented Mr Desai.
Despite the district being one of the largest producers of milk, large scale death of cattle has made matters worse due to huge drop in milk production.
The administration is worried and counting the toll, senior government official DK Rana said, "Talking about the cattle loss... so far 6686 cattle have died in our district alone... we have managed to dispose off 6230 dead cattle."
According to the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing federation or GCMMF, that owns the popular brand "Amul", the district used to produce 33 lakh litres of milk daily, but it had dropped down to as low as four lakh litres during the floods in the last two weeks. With floods receding for the past few days, the milk production has not gone up to almost 20 lakh litres now.
Even the neighbouring district of Mehsana has seen a decrease of milk production by about 2 lakh litres daily.
The administration claims that compensation would be provided to the cattle owners. But for those who have lost their cattle stock, till the government comes good on their assurances, it is unlikely to cheer them up.
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