Thirty livestock in Barnala’s Jagjitpura village inexplicably pass away

Since March 10 at Jagjitpura village near Barnala, more than thirty milch animals (buffaloes and cows) belonging to eleven farmers have perished from an unexplained sickness.

Even though veterinary professionals have been coming to the hamlet every day for the last five days to check on and treat the animals, farmers are concerned about what will become of their surviving livestock in this circumstance.

The Department of Animal Husbandry officials performed a post-mortem examination on a few animals after their notification of the deaths of many milch cows during the previous two weeks. The officials responsible for animal husbandry in the Barnala area are awaiting the report.

Owners of the killed animals have been requesting compensation from the state government in order to purchase buffaloes and cows, since they have suffered significant financial losses as a result of the animals’ deaths. Out of the eleven farmers, the unexplained illness has claimed the lives of five of one farmer’s buffaloes and six of another farmer’s.

This writer was informed today by Buta Singh, a farmer from Jagjitpura village who also owns eight buffaloes, that 32 animals—29 buffaloes and three cows—had perished as a result of the unexplained illness. He claimed that since the animals died abruptly and collapsed, the reason of the death was yet unclear. He said that even after receiving care from private physicians at first, the farmers were unable to preserve their animals.

According to Buta Singh, six buffaloes owned by Sohan Singh, two owned by Sukhchain Singh, and five owned by Chamkaur Singh perished from an unexplained illness. According to him, these farmers had lost millions of rupees, as a healthy buffalo typically costs between Rs 70,000 and Rs 80,000. He said that when Chamakaur Singh’s buffaloes began to die, a problem arose in the hamlet.

Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry at Barnala, Dr. Lakhbir Singh, said that the animals perished at Jagjitpura. According to him, the reason of the animals’ deaths was not yet known since his office was still awaiting the postmortem report from the Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Jalandhar.