Uttar Pradesh: Flood of Woes Rains on Cattle Rearers

Shahjahanpur/Farrukhabad/Hardoi/Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh: "I am no longer able to reach all the areas where I used to deliver milk. Some parts of Shahjahanpur city are still submerged. My milk business has been affected," said Om Prakash Pal (62) of Ladholi village in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district. Floodwaters from the Garra and Khannaut do not reach Ladholi, but milk sales have dipped and animal fodder has become expensive.

From June 1 to July 11, the district received 232.70 mm against the usual 183 mm. River Ganga received 25,060 cusecs from Narora barrage, while the Ganga's tributary Garra received 23,812 cusecs from Duni barrage. River Ramganga, another tributary of Ganga, received 1,010 cusecs from several dams. The situation exacerbated after Nepal witnessed heavy rains and the rivers flowing into India from Nepal were swollen.  

Water from the Khannaut reached the house of Rajeshwar Singh (65), a cattle rearer from Niyamatpur village, on July 13. "There are many areas that are inaccessible, so my 20 litres of milk is getting wasted every day. My animals are crying due to hunger. This river must have flooded after 40 years."

"I live in Kaperkatka. This time, the Garra waters reached the village at the beginning of monsoon season [June to October]. Such a flood must have happened after many years. The grasslands along the riverbanks have submerged and our expenses on animals have increased considerably. We are feeding them straw now," said Jalender Singh.

Siyaram (60) brought his animals back for grazing once the water level near the riverbank reduced. "An animal requires seven to 10 kg of chaff per day. It costs about Rs 1,000 per quintal. I have six milch animals. The chaff has become expensive and it is not easily available now."

People passing through flooded roads (Photo - Ramji Mishra, 101Reporters).

Ram Kewal, Special Secretary, Revenue (Relief) Department, told 101Reporters that guidelines have been framed to offer assistance for flood damage. "Suppose there is loss of fodder, what will the cattle herder do? Everyone, from the district magistrate to accountant, is responsible for preparing and sending necessary reports to ensure relief," he said.

Nizampur Gautiya is among the villages worst affected by the Garra floodwaters. "There were people waiting for food. There were people waiting to be saved. If someone was drowning, there was no one to save them. We ran towards a bridge. All the people and animals stood on that bridge and saved their lives," Bitoli Devi, aged around 35, narrated the ordeal.

Despite the floods leaving them in tatters, Babli Devi, in her 30s, seemed to be more concerned about her cattle. "We lost three trolleys of chaff,” she said dejectedly.

Explaining the money involved, Babli adds, “One trolley can hold at least 15 quintals of chaff. Losing 45 quintals that cost Rs 45,000 is an unbearable loss for us. We are labourers. We are not able to meet our expenses.”

People of Nizampur Gautiya have been trying to reduce the losses by drying on roads and rooftops the straw left with them. "Walls collapsed, soil eroded and haystacks were washed away. As long as the floods lasted, our animals remained hungry. Due to this, milk production got affected," said Om Prakash Verma (40), who has six animals.

Women from Nizampur Gautiya described how heaps of cow dung cakes were also washed away and those left behind became useless. According to the villagers, they are not in a position to buy gas cylinders and have only limited access to drywood for lighting stoves.

Dinesh Singh (28) of Gutauti South in Farrukhabad district was roaming with his animals in the grassy fields far away when the Ganga waters entered his village. "After the floods, the milk dairy cooperative's vehicle is not coming here, so milk gets wasted. We are able to manage only half the amount of fodder that our animals eat daily,” said Singh, adding that the Ganga is two km away from the village.

Pranshu Gautam (25) noted that straw costs Rs 800 to 1,000 per quintal and that he required around 15 quintals of it every month. “When people face problems in getting their own food, how can they rear their animals well?” he wondered.

Sanjay Singh, the pradhan of Nagriya Jawahar village in Farrukhabad district, now transports fodder for his cattle in a boat. Surrounded by River Ramganga on one side, this village is only one to two km away from the Ganga.  

Meanwhile, the accountant posted in Amritpur tehsil of Farrukhabad claimed that there is no provision to assess the loss of stored chaff. The accountant is supposed to assess the damage caused in the fields.

At Dhaniyapur of Hardoi district, people were seen removing rotten straw. At Kanakapur, some distance away from the Ganga, people were seen bringing fodder for their animals by boat.

Premmukhi (38), who lives in Ganganagar in Shahjahanpur district, said the Ramganga originated from his village. “Due to last year’s straw shortage, I could not buy dry fodder for animals. I had to sell buffaloes worth Rs 55,000 for Rs 35,000. Now I have only two cows and one buffalo,” she said, adding that the walls of her house have collapsed in the recent floods.

Flooded rivers are spoiling the stored chaff (Photo - Ramji Mishra, 101Reporters).

Sudesh Kumar (32) of the same village had built a mud wall around straw to prevent water from entering it. However, during the flood, water entered the straw. Now it is rotting and the animals are not eating it willingly.

“During the rainy season, animals suffer from diseases, including foot-and-mouth disease and bovine ephemeral fever. In such cases, we have to go for private consultation. It is quite expensive,” Kumar added.

Itauwa in Sitapur district is on the banks of River Chauka. Deepu Awasthi, a resident, said that only damage to fields and crops are assessed during damage assessment. “To date, I have not heard of nor seen any survey to compensate for the loss of dry fodder for animals. Usually, the flooding happens at the end of the monsoon season here, but it came early this time,” he said.

Mahesh Kumar Kaithal, the Sub-District Magistrate of Kalan area of Shahjahanpur district, said the first priority during floods is to save people's lives. On the straw shortage issue, he claimed the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) provides help in this regard.

When contacted, Shahjahanpur district CVO Dr Manoj Kumar Aggarwal told 101Reporters that in case of fodder problem, help from Flood Disaster Relief Fund can be made available. "At present, there is no information of such a problem," he claimed.

Regarding the spread of diseases after floods, Aggarwal said that vaccination has already been carried out in flood-affected areas. "If an animal falls ill, people can make use of the toll-free numbers given or visit a veterinary hospital," he added.

(Ramji Mishra is an Uttar Pradesh-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)