Lumpy skin disease stalls dairy units in Karimnagar

In the wake of the spread of LSD, which is causing concern in several other States as well, the district administration has temporarily put on hold the grounding of the mini-dairy units.

Karimnagar: Grounding of mini-dairy units sanctioned under the Dalit Bandhu scheme has been stalled in the district on account of the worrying spread of the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) among animals.

In the wake of the spread of LSD, which is causing concern in several other States as well, the district administration has temporarily put on hold the grounding of the mini-dairy units. Inter-district and intra-district transportation of animals has been banned by some States following the death of animals with LSD. The district administration has also stalled the import of buffaloes and other animals from other States to check the entry of LSD into the district. As a result, the grounding of mini-dairy units has been stalled, officials said.

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In order to develop dalits on all fronts, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had launched the Dalit Bandhu scheme on August 16, 2021. Under the scheme, which was implemented in Huzurabad constituency on a pilot basis and later expanded to other segments, business units and mini dairies have also been sanctioned to beneficiaries to enhance the financial status of dalits. As part of the mini-dairy project, buffalos and other required materials are being provided to the beneficiaries.

To extract more milk, Murrah breed buffaloes are being provided to beneficiaries by bringing them from Punjab, Haryana and Tamil Nadu. For this purpose, the district administration had entered into an agreement with Vijaya, Mulkanoor and Karimnagar Dairies.

Even as the initiative was moving along smoothly, the lumpy skin disease came up, forcing beneficiaries to wait since the grounding of units has been delayed following the ban of transportation of animals. More than 300 beneficiaries are waiting for the units.

Speaking to Telangana Today, SC Corporation Executive Director S Nagarjuna said they have temporarily put on hold the grounding of units since the transportation of animals was banned following the spread of LSD. Informing that the beneficiaries who selected dairy units have to wait for 20 days, he said that those who had not established sheds to set up the dairy units could change their units.

According to the SC Corporation statistics, a survey of 1,601 dairy units was completed. Of that 1,200 units were already grounded. Survey has already been completed for 1,592 units in Huzurabad constituency followed by Karimnagar-4, Choppadandi-3 and Manakondur-2.