KARACHI, Aug 11: Rains have caused considerable losses to farmers at the Landhi’s Cattle Colony, located in Bin Qasim Town as they could not distribute thousands of litres of fresh milk that is supposed to be marketed on a daily basis either due to the bad weather or the traffic mess elsewhere in the city.
President of the Karachi Dairy Farmers Association Haji Akhtar states that traffic jam running into several hours in certain areas, especially around the under-construction Quaidabad bridge becomes even more serious during rains. Resultantly, the stocks of fresh milk often spoil before reaching their destinations. According to his estimate, about one hundred thousand litres of fresh milk gets spoiled every day owing to the prolonged traffic jams, pointing out that the commodity has to reach the markets, he said, adding that every day, around 4 million litres of milk was supplied to different markets — located in New Karachi, Orangi, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, North Nazimabad, Site and Keamari — within four hours after it is loaded in vehicles at the Cattle Colony. Around four million litres of fresh milk is packed daily for the markets.
“Though traffic jam along the under-construction Mehran highway and Quaidabad flyover has been a chronic problem for quite some time, the situation has now become critical as the digging of roads for different purposes has created long trenches and narrowed down the thoroughfares. Rains have turned them into pools, ponds and puddles making them extremely dangerous for vehicles and pedestrians alike,” he said.
Routinely, traffic jam running into four to five hours is being experienced at these sites alone, he says, adding that the problem persists since the start of work on the flyover about four years back.
The continuing rains have already submerged many farms, besides killing the cattle in a remarkable number. Animals, he says, become more vulnerable to disease in rains. Collapse of shelters in the event of thunderstorm, strong winds or torrential rains would also inflict casualties on the animals. At many farms, cattle are fully exposed to the health hazards created by the tattered sewerage and sanitation system at the Cattle Colony. “There is no proper system for the disposal of cattle dung either,” says Haji Akhtar.
Dr Rafiquddin Babar, a cattle farmer, says that most farmers keep dry fodder in the open and the rain has destroyed the stocks. He points out that disruption in the supply of green fodder from the interior of Sindh is also caused by the bad weather conditions. Yet another problem is persistent power failures which creates water shortage, affecting both the people and the cattle.
“The government religiously collects all taxes from the farmers but has never appeared ready to provide basic facilities or incentives in order to mitigate the taxpayers’ sufferings,” he remarked.
Dr Hafeez Shaikh, the in-charge of Government Veterinary Hospital, Landhi, said that over the last three days alone, about 300 complaints of animal injuries were received at the hospital.
KARACHI, Aug 11: Rains have caused considerable losses to farmers at the Landhi’s Cattle Colony, located in Bin Qasim Town as they could not distribute thousands of litres of fresh milk that is supposed to be marketed on a daily basis either due to the bad weather or the traffic mess elsewhere in the city.
