Jodhpur: People perform 'havan' to protest against Lumpy disease spread

Jodhpur: To mark their protest against the Lumpy disease that has been affecting the cattle in Rajasthan, people in Jodhpur performed 'havan' outside the office of the District Collectorate (DC) on Tuesday.

The protesting people have also submitted a memorandum to the DC to register their protest. As per the State Executive Member of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party Sarwan Choudhary, there has been a constant agitation amongst the citizens because of the death of a large number of cattle due to Lumpy skin disease.

The protesting people have also demanded the government to issue a compensation of Rs 50,000 for their dead cattle and have also asked for proper treatment for the cows suffering from the disease, he said.

The Lumpy disease is a viral disease that affects cattle. It is transmitted by blood-feeding insects, such as certain species of flies and mosquitoes, or ticks. It causes fever and nodules on the skin and can lead to the death of the cattle.
Meanwhile, an isolation centre has also opened in Udaipur where the cattle suffering from the disease are kept.

"The disease is spreading rapidly as the healthy cattle often come in contact with the infected ones. The isolation centres have been opened here to treat the infected animals," said the Additional Director of the Animal Husbandry Department.
Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party also held a massive protest over the death of thousands of cattle in Rajasthan due to Lumpy skin disease and the state's BJP chief Satish Poonia climbed atop a police barricade during the party's protest in Jaipur.

In an unusual incident on Monday, Pushkar BJP MLA Suresh Rawat reached the Rajasthan Assembly along with a cow. The act was carried out with the aim to protest against the spread of Lumpy disease in livestock.

As soon as the BJP MLA reached the spot and started giving a statement, the cow ran away.
On September 19, Rajasthan Chief Minister took note of the issue and said that the addressal of the lumpy disease is the state government's priority however the vaccines for the same would be given by the Centre.

"I called a meeting on August 15 regarding lumpy skin disease and called the leaders of the opposition, talked to everyone, talked to the religious leaders, our priority is how to save the lives of cows from lumpy skin disease, but the central government will give the vaccines and medicines," tweeted CM Gehlot.

The disease had been ravaging cattle across the country with cows from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab dying in large numbers.

Maharashtra's animal husbandry department informed on Saturday that as many as 126 cattle have died and 25 districts were infected by the Lumpy virus in the state.
The release further informed that although Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is rapidly spreading, it is not transmitted to human beings either from animals or through cow milk.

On August 10, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar launched the indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVac to protect livestock from Lumpy skin disease with an aim to provide relief to the livestock of the country.

The vaccine has been developed by the National Equine Research Center, Hisar (Haryana) in collaboration with the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izzatnagar (Bareilly).

Notably, on August 16, former Union minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal slammed the Punjab government for not taking note of the damage that the 'Lumpy Skin Disease' had been causing in the region and demanded a compensation of Rs 50,000 per animal to mitigate the burden on the rearers.

She also stressed that the disease had proved to be fatal for hundreds of bovines in the northern state.
"Lumpy Skin Disease is ravaging livestock in Punjab. Hundreds of bovines have died and thousands are severely infected with this contagious disease that is causing enormous economic loss to our farmers and dairy owners. Unfortunately, AAP-led Punjab govt has failed to do the needful," tweeted Badal.

She further outlined the measures that can be taken by the AAP-led government and listed a compensation of Rs 50,000 per animal to mitigate the burden on rearers. (ANI)