NGOs rescue over 200 animals from Veligonda project displacement areas

More than 200 animals were rescued by three NGOs from areas affected by the Veligonda project in Andhra Pradesh. Animal rights activists said several animals died due to lack of food and urged the government to ensure proper rescue operations.

Hyderabad: While the Andhra Pradesh government ensured the safe evacuation of people displaced under the Veligonda project, there was no effort to rescue the pets and wild animals. Due to lack of food, many animals starved to death, while many of them were seen roaming in hilly forest areas located close to the villages.

When the government started impounding the Krishna water in the Veligonda project, animals escaped into the forest area while some remained stranded in villages. However, three NGOs, which took up the job of rescuing these animals from the displaced areas, rescued more than 200 animals, the majority of them being dogs.

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Vijayawada-based Sanghamitra Animal Foundation and Jeevaradya Animal Rescue Society carried out the rescue operation initially. They rescued as many as 179 animals. When the government started impounding the water, these two NGOs had no mechanism to carry out the rescue operation in the submerged areas, following which some responsible citizens called the Patancheru-based NGO Animal Warriors Conservation Society (AWCS).

Speaking to Telangana Today, founder of AWCS Pradeep Nair said that they had found carcasses of 12 dogs and one cat. However, he said that many would have died due to lack of food. Nair further said that they found five dogs whose heads were trapped in discarded plastic containers.

The AWCS founder lamented that the animals would have trapped themselves in the containers while searching for food. The AWCS could rescue 15 dogs, eight Scorpions, four Snakes, one Turtle, one Bandicoot and one Chameleon. Since the dogs were shy and stressed out, the AWCS captured them. The three NGOs together sent 12 volunteers to carry out the rescue operation, which was carried out for seven days from September 14.

Even though 11 villages would be displaced under the project, the officials have evacuated people from four villages, Sunkesula, Kalanuthala, Gottipadaya and Gundemcharla in Markapuram for now, which are going to submerge under the project this year. As the government continues to increase the water storage, the remaining villages will also be evacuated in a phased manner. The animal rights activists urged the Andhra Pradesh government to take up proper rescue operations while shifting the remaining villagers, apart from rescuing all the animals that fled into the forest area.