More than 58 cows have died in the last 28 days in a cow shelter in Agar Malwa district and a three-member committee has been set up to probe the incident. Authorities have also sent samples of the fodder to a Bhopal lab for analysis. Agar Malwa District Magistrate Ajay Gupta told that the cows had died in the period from December 1 to 28. While some of the animals were ill, it is suspected that the others died of eating contaminated fodder and hence the samples were sent for analysis, he said. He said a post-mortem of each dead animal had been carried out and vowed that if someone submits proof of any wrongdoing, then all necessary action will be taken.
Officials said that the cow shelter, which can accommodate a total of 6,000 cows, has at present 4,309 animals.Similar was the situation in Gwalior, where in the last four months, around 1,200 bovines had died at a government-run shelter over the last four months, spurring a blame game between the caretaker and the local municipal body.
While the civic body blamed the consumption of polythene and other waste products for the cattle deaths, the caretaker cited overcrowding and poor infrastructure at the shelter as the prime cause.Notably, the deaths came to fore when locals noticed 10 carcasses being transported out of the cow shelter and raised an alarm. However, the authorities are yet to take any action in the bovine deaths.