While the State Government continued to ignore the stranded mules in Gaurikund area, the Army has come to the rescue of the animals and decided to send a troop with animal welfare activists to rescue the abandoned mules.
The activists fear that rising level of water in an artificial lake created by debris blocking drainage beyond Gaurikund could drown the mules stranded in this area. A team comprising veterinarians and members of People for Animals and Humane Society International will free the stranded animals from this area with the help of the Army.
PFA Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi said that the State Government, district administration and Animal Husbandry department have turned a blind eye to the condition of these stranded working animals. “PFA chairperson Maneka Gandhi talked to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Command, lt Gen Anil Chait, who agreed to provide a troop to assist in the rescue of the stranded working animals.
Volunteers and Army will embark on the rescue on Tuesday morning from Sonprayag. The need for rescue has become all the more urgent as the mules are starving and it is feared that the level of water in the artificial lake forming beyond Gaurikund could cause a flash flood,” she said.
Maulekhi said that though the Nainital High Court had ordered a cap of 4,500 mules on the Gaurikund-Kedarnath route this year, locals stated that about 12,000 mules were present here when disaster struck. While injured mules have died and uninjured mules were taken away by locals and visitors, there are about 2,000 mules which are stranded on blocked stretches of the route.
“It is not possible to rescue and assemble the stranded mules in one place so we are planning to free them into the forests where we expect the locals will take them considering their value. The rotting bodies are contaminating the water in the entire area and reportedly cholera cases are rising too,” she added.