Could LSD in UP lead to milk shortage in north during festival time?

LUCKNOW: With incidents of lumpy skin disease rising in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took a review of the situation on Saturday and directed officials to immediately stop all inter-state movement of cattle and suspend cattle fairs in the state to prevent the spread of infection.

The CM also announced to increase the per day allowance for looking after destitute cattle under Mukhyamantri Sahabhagita Yojana from Rs 30 to Rs 50 per animal.During the meeting, the CM said that the lumpy skin disease had caused widespread loss in livestock in many states.

‘Dairy farmers should be sensitised to ban entry of outsiders in shelters’He said that to prevent a similar situation in , the government would have to work on “mission mode”. Other than taking preventive measures, the CM said, dairy farmers should be sensitised about the symptoms and treatment of the infection and to ban the entry of unnecessary people into cow shelters.

“It is necessary to run a special vaccination campaign to protect cattle from lumpy virus for which there needs to be availability of vaccines. As the virus spreads through mosquitoes, special cleanliness campaigns should be conducted in villages and cities in coordination with the departments of rural development, urban development and animal husbandry,” the CM said.

He added that there should be separate enclosures for lumpy virus infected cattle, recovered cattle and non-infected cattle. The CM also reviewed the implementation of the Mukhyamantri Sahabhagita Yojana, under which more than 1.85 lakh cows have been handed over to people so that they can be looked after.

At present, Rs 30 is being given for food per cow to families which are looking after these cows. This will now be increased to Rs 50 per cow. In addition to this, there are 11.89 lakh cows in 6,889 cow shelters in the state.