With Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) assuming alarming proportions, authorities have drawn flak form the farmers for their ineffective tackling of the situation.
Sources said a significant number of cattle have already fallen prey to the disease in Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts, with a huge number of casualties being reported from Erode and Namakkal.
However, authorities of the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) were trying to downplay the seriousness of the episode and have even misled the district administration on the actual toll.
Farmers blame the AHD for dragging its feet till the disease assumed alarming proportions, and for the bad management of the outbreak thereafter. Having incurred heavy losses, farmers said early detection and preventive mechanisms would have gone a long way in saving hundreds of cattle.
Meanwhile, the sources said that it took the authorities several weeks to realise the actual impact of FMD and impose curbs on movement of animals and closure of shanties in some districts., which resulted in the extremely high number of the casualties.
Situation in delta
After conducting an intensive vaccination drive and treating 215 cattle for the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), the officials of Animal Husbandry department claimed that the outbreak in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts had been brought under control.
Dr N Subbaiyan, Thanjavur collector, visited the villages in Orathanadu Taluk on Sunday and said that the situation was under control. Talking to Express Dr R Selvavinayagam, joint director of Animal Husbandry, Thanjavur, said the intensity of the outbreak had subsided in Tiruvidaimarudur and Tirupanandal, where the disease was first reported in the district.