Hundreds of mules and other domesticated animals are still feared to be stranded in the Kedar valley though the Animal Husbandry department does not have accurate figures yet on the animals stranded or dead in the disaster.
Though some fodder has been dropped for these animals, the situation is bad as difficult terrain, destroyed routes and lack of information hamper the rescue and relief works for animals.
Animal Husbandry department director Dr Kamal Mehrotra said that it is hard to estimate the number of mules whih died in the disaster or were stranded in the Kedar valley. There is adequate quantity of fodder at the helipad in Guptkashi and some of it was also air dropped for stranded mules, he said.
Animal welfare activists who reached the Kedar valley to rescue the stranded animals said that the District administration and Animal Husbandry department did not do enough to assist the rescue of the stranded mules. The department staff reached the site of the disaster 15 days after the devastation was wreaked.
The department staff was absent when it was needed and reached the area at a time when there was little for it to do, complained the activists. It will be recalled that though the High Court had put a cap of 4,500 mules on the Gaurikund-Kedarnath route, it is estimated that at least 8,000 mules were present here when disaster struck on June 16-17.
With no registration of the mules and other animals used for commercial purposes in this area, the authorities will not be able to ascertain the number of mules killed or stranded due to the disaster.