Of lives secondary: Livestock rehabilitation on backburner

Over Rs12 billion lost in sector in floods between 2010 and 2015

PESHAWAR:

The rehabilitation of livestock affected by the October 26 earthquake appears to have been kept on the backburner as the provincial government has taken limited precautions to rescue them.

This has sparked fears among survivors in rural communities that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa could witness a substantial reduction in livestock owing to the government’s failure to implement prompt measures. Having lost people and homes, the loss of livestock-related revenue will ensure that impact of the earthquake will be felt well into the next year.

K-P Government Spokesperson and Special Assistant to CM Mushtaq Ghani has insisted rehabilitating livestock is the next step.

Gentle creatures

According to a copy of documents provided by Directorate General (Extension) of Livestock and Dairy Development K-P available with The Express Tribune, 4,643 animals were killed in the natural catastrophe.

“A majority of these animals include sheeps and goats,” read the document. “The deaths have been recorded in Chitral, Swat, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Shangla, Malakand, Buner, Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Nowshera and Kohistan.”

As per the report, camps and mobile clinics were set up by the government and social workers to treat wounded animals soon after the quake hit these areas.

The document also reveals about 38,824 animals were vaccinated at the camps while 27,659 were provided first-aid. About 4,000 animals were sprayed to protect them from diseases.

The shelters of various animals have also been damaged. “At least 1,882 livestock shelters in K-P have been damaged in the earthquake,” added the report.

Additional burden

Earlier this year, heavy rain and floods in most parts of the province resulted in the death of livestock and forest animals. Last month’s earthquake has put an additional burden on the government to take an initiative in this regard, not to mention the impact of those whose entire livelihood was pegged to farm animals.

“The K-P government had already incurred losses in livestock worth Rs5.34 billion in the 2010 floods,” stated the report. “Losses worth Rs0.15 million were reported in 2013 and the department has had to face a loss of Rs7 million in the 2015 floods. However, no precautionary measures were taken to save the animals during natural disasters.”

Waiting for solutions

The immediate physical rehabilitation of families affected by natural disasters is always likely to be the government’s first priority. As a result, the fate of livestock affected by the earthquake remains a question with no immediate solution in sight as no strategies have been made to rescue animals.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Livestock Department Deputy Director Dr Alamzeb said that the government has constituted teams in various districts to assess losses to livestock and is vaccinating animals.

“Animals in affected areas are being kept in tents and members of these teams are taking care of them,” he said. “We have not collected exact figures as yet. However, the process is under way and soon the livestock department will arrange plans to save the animals.” Whether they will be able to implement this before winter sets in even deeper is a question the departments are unable to answer.

Phase two

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Ghani said the earthquake has resulted in massive casualties and destroyed countless villages.

“The relevant authorities are first and foremost dealing with human and property loss,” he said. “There are some areas where the surveys to assess the level of damage have not been initiated as yet. It will take some time to look into the level of destruction caused to livestock.”

According to Ghani, the government’s main focus is to provide compensation and start rehabilitating the affected population.

“The rehabilitation of livestock will start in the second phase,” he said. “We haven’t devised any comprehensive plan to [rehabilitate] livestock as yet. However, we are planning to develop strategies to protect them from natural disasters.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th, 2015.