Most members of the voluntary team which departed from Dehradun to rescue stranded mules between Gaurikund and Kedarnath have abandoned the task following landslides in the area. However, the People For Animals, Uttarakhand volunteers, are still there and along with officials of the Animal Husbandry department
officials are trying to drop fodder for the stranded mules till they can be freed. It is feared that more than 3,000 mules are stranded in different locations along paths damaged and blocked by the disaster and most of them have been starving for at least 10 days. The ones which have been able to move to lower areas have been seen raiding the relief camps and even acting aggressively towards humans in desperate search for food.
A nine-member group of PFA volunteers and vets from Humane Society International had gone to Sonprayag on Tuesday to rescue the stranded mules and had intended to work with an the Army troop. According to PFA Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi, the temporary bridge erected across the Mandakini beyond Sonprayag had been washed away and was rebuilt which will allow rescuers to move towards the stranded animals.
However, most of the volunteer team had abandoned the task on seeing severe landslide with large boulders on the path. Volunteers from PFA Faridabad and lucknow are expected to reach here in a day and along with Animal Husbandry department staff and Army, efforts will be made to free the stranded mules.
At present, one of the major problems is that the estimated 3,000 mules are starving and though some fodder was dropped by chopper to some of the stranded animals, a lot more fodder needs to be provided as a mule requires about two kg of fodder a day barely to survive. According to volunteers, about 40 bags of fodder have been lying at Joshimath for the past two days, but the Government is not considering it important to air-drop the fodder.
The locals fear that if effective action is not taken in 24 hours, the starved and stranded mules might start to collapse and die and their bodies could raise the risk of diseases like cholera.The district administration has been requested to organise a combined team of Army men and local mule owners to make a narrow mule track to enable the villagers to climb upto Kedarnath and other areas to rescue the stranded mules.