The Animal Husbandry Minister, Pritam Singh Panwar has directed department officials and Rudraprayag district administration to provide fodder to stranded animals in need of it and to facilitate opening of routes and construction of temporary bridges to enable rescue of animals stranded at different locations in the Kedarnath valley.
More than a 1,000 animals including horses, mules, bovines and dogs are believed to be stranded in different parts of the valley. Though there is green fodder available for the stranded herbivores, some animals are stranded in areas without adequate greenery and face the risk of starvation. It will be recalled that recently, People for Animals volunteers returning from Kedarnath valley after rescuing more than a 1,000 stranded animals, had informed the State Government that thousands of animals are still stranded in the area.
It is estimated that about 250 mules are stuck in Rambada Bazaar, 350 at Ghingorpani, 10 in Kedarnath Bazaar, 600 in Kedarnath valley, 50 at Gaurikund (trans-Mandakini) and five at Sonprayag. In the Hemkund area 1,135 animals including mules, cows and buffaloes are stuck because a 60 feet temporary bridge over Alaknanda was removed.
The activists had requested the Government to facilitate air-dropping of fodder for the stranded animals, construction of seven temporary bridges to enable their rescue and speedy processing of the official file to facilitate free treatment of animals injured in the disaster. PFA Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi said that the State administration has ordered free treatment for the injured animals. Talking to The Pioneer, Panwar said that adequate quantity of fodder had been sent to the Rudraprayag district for the animals in need.
“We have asked the district administration to help speed up work on opening routes to Kedarnath and other areas so that the stranded animals can be given fodder. Though there is greenery in most of the areas where animals are stranded, there are some places where the animals need fodder. We also received a request to facilitate construction of temporary bridges to enable the rescue so we are also working on this,” said the Minister.