The spread of Lumpy skin disease among livestock in Maharashtra has raised alarm as the farmers and experts claimed that it may lead to the deaths of animals demanding the state government to step up a massive vaccination programme. This disease is spread by flies, mosquitoes, ticks.
After the leader of opposition in the state assembly Ajit Pawar and various farmers’ organisations raised the issue, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde led cabinet on Monday decided to pay compensation to the farmers whose livestock died due to the disease. The cabinet also approved allocating Rs 1 crore each for the payment of compensation through the district planning committee. Besides, the cabinet also gave a nod for filling up vacant posts on a contract basis in the animal husbandry department.
The Chief Minister’s Office said that the compensation would be paid as per the criteria of the National Disaster Prevention Policy. For the implementation of this decision, a committee will be formed under the chairmanship of the chief executive officer of the Zilla Parishad of the concerned district. District Planning Committees have also been directed to immediately provide Rs 1 crore from the available funds for the year 2022-23 for expenses on various items such as vaccines, medicines, and equipment required for the control of Lumpy skin disease.
Lumpy Skin Disease, a viral disease of cattle and buffaloes, is currently endemic in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu – Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Andhra Pradesh etc. So far thousands of animals have died due to this disease in the above-mentioned states while the fatality rate in Maharashtra is low due to the vaccination carried out by the animal husbandry department.
According to the department, the first incidence of Lumpy skin disease in the state was reported on September 4 in village Chinawal of Raver taluka of Jalgaon district. The spread of Lumpy skin disease has been noticed in a total of 280 villages in 20 districts including Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Akola, Dhule, Pune, Latur, Aurangabad, Beed, Satara, Buldana, Amravati, Osmanabad, Kolhapur, Sangli, Yeotmal, Parbhani, Solapur, Washim, Nashik and Jalna till September 11. A total of 42 infected animals have died including 17 in Jalgaon district, 13 in Ahmednagar District, 1 in Dhule, 1 in Akola, 3 in Pune, 3 in Buldhana, 3 in Amravati and 1 in Washim District.
A total of 4,78,442 livestock in 1566 villages within a 5 km radius of the infected area have been vaccinated. Out of a total of 2,387 infected livestock in affected villages, a total of 1,435 livestock have been recovered after treatment. The rest of the affected livestock are being treated. The department said That 10 lakh vaccine doses have been received on September 11 for control of Lumpy skin disease.
The state government has issued a notification as a preventive measure under Sections (6), (7), (11), (12) and (13) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009 (27 of 2009), in the exercise of the power hereby conferred, the entire State of Maharashtra is declared as a “The Controlled Area” in respect of Lumpy Skin Disease. Accordingly, the movement, market, races, animal fairs, exhibitions etc. of cattle and buffalo species within the Controlled area or any other place outside the area is prohibited.
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