From Vijay Sabharwal
Kurukshetra, July 7 – While the country seems to have rediscovered deference to the ‘gau-mata’, recent incidents of lynching in the name of the cow have drawn protests from many concerned citizens. In this time of cow worship, the condition of the animals at a local gaushala has, therefore, offered a stark contrast between words and deeds of self-proclaimed ‘gau-rakshaks’.
At a ‘gaushala’ situated at village Mathana, near Ladwa, 20 kms from here, over 25 cows are reported to have lost their lives in pre-monsoon rain that lashed the area over the last 4 days, with the entire ‘gaushala’ transforming into a veritable pond. A number of cows got stuck in the marshy land, causing their deaths. Many also died due to non-availability of fodder.
Though this ‘gaushala’ witnessed cow-deaths on a regular (almost daily) basis over the past few days, the administration swung into action only yesterday, when the villagers raised a hue and cry against the negligent attitude of the authorities.
This brought the Ladwa MLA, Dr. Pawan Saini, and Chairman of the Haryana ‘Gau Sewa Commission’, Bhani Das Mangla, to the site last evening, along with a few district-level officers. Thanesar Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Narinder Pal Malik, also visited the Gaushala, with other officials. Six animals were found still stuck in the marshy land. In fact, the state of the cow ‘shelters’ forced Dr. Saini to inspect the animals while sitting atop an earth-moving machine. Thereafter, he directed the officers to shift the sick animals to another ‘gaushala’ at Karnal, which has veterinary arrangements, and to attempt relocation of the remaining animals to 20 other ‘gaushalas’ running in the district, till the construction work here is complete.
The mood at the ‘gaushala’ turned tense when some of the villagers used derogatory language against the visiting dignitaries for their uncaring attitude towards the cattle, and accused them of not even arranging adequate fodder for the animals. Things came to a head when the veterinary doctor of the village had to save his own skin from a mob of furious villagers who tried to attack him – the good doctor made haste in finding his way out of the village, at speed.
Former President of Ladwa’s Shri Krishan Gaushala, Ashok Papneja, who used to donate fodder at this Gaushala also said that the district administration had raised a boundary wall around seven-and-a-half acres of village Panchayat land after the state government ordered the relocation of stray cattle to on roads to ‘gaushalas’. Loose earth was spread in the said plot and the stray cows were then rounded up to be housed in the ‘gaushala’. He said that, at present, there are over 600 cows living there, without any proper arrangements. There is no ‘Turi’ (wheat straw), fodder and drinking water available for so many cows. He expressed alarm that 20 cows were dying daily at the ‘gaushala’ for the past four days but that no official from the local administration bothered to take notice.
It is unclear exactly who is to blame for this state of affairs. When contacted, the SDM, Malik, said that while the ‘gaushala’ was started by the district administration, its day-to-day operational responsibility lay with the village Panchayat and the department of animal husbandry. Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry at Kurukshetra, Dr. Dharminder Singh, claimed that they took full care of the animals with the help of the veterinary hospital in the village, and vaccinated all of them. However, he said that it was the responsibility of everyone as these animals were collected from roads under ‘joint project’ of district administration. He maintained that only some weak animals have lost their lives after getting caught in the wet swamp of the past few days – these, he noted, would probably have died anyway by eating plastic from the roads, had they not been shifted to the ‘gaushala’.
Giving a rough figure of mortality as between 25 to 30, Dr Singh said that the situation was being exaggerated by some people who are keen to grab the seven-and-a-half acres of prime Panchayat land that is currently being used for the ‘gaushala’.
Tej Pal Singh, husband of village Panchayat Sarpanch, Kiran Bala, who has been given temporary responsibility to look after Gaushala, said that work was being done on a war footing to remove slush and spread fresh mud for flooring. Over 50 volunteers are working round-the-clock to meet the situation arising due to torrential rains.
He went on to allege that some unknown persons had pushed over 150 frail animals from the ‘gaushala’ out of the facility, because of which over 30 might have died. However, he alleged that some politically influential persons were trying to give a bad name to the village Panchayat in an effort to grab the prime land given for ‘gaushala’. He alleged that, somehow, an impression has gone through that the ‘gaushalas’ being run by the government may be closed by the next non-BJP government, with the designated land being retained by whomsoever in possession.
Photo- 1- cows stuck up in mud being extricated
2—dead animals being carried to ‘hadirora’-place to dispose dead animals.
3—Villagers protesting outside Gaushala
No comments:
Post a Comment