Livestock hit, animals drown, get washed away / Nida Sayed / TNN / Jul 26, 2021, 05:54 IST
Mangrove loss could trigger coastal flooding, say experts ... ‘Broken butterfly clamp caused ceiling to collapse’
Devastating flood >> Panaji: The devastating floods Goans experienced because of torrential rain and opening of dam gates, not only displaced the people of rural Goa, but also caused great loss of livestock.
A Valpoi-based cattle shelter has lost 50 animals after they drowned in the floods, while medicine, dry fodder and other equipment worth lakhs of rupees has been lost. Several other animals are missing and the search to find them is ongoing. The gaushala was sheltering 495 animals.
“The estimated value of the cattle we have lost is 14 lakh in addition to which fodder worth Rs 4 lakh is lost. There was also damage to our refrigerator and milk products,” said Hanumant Parab.
While the animals are usually kept tied to the shed, Parab said that they were released by 3am after water started entering the shed. However, the water levels increased so much that they were flooded with almost two metres of water.
“Gaushala workers and some villagers came to help rescue the animals, but they couldn’t. We mostly lost bulls and a few cows. The buffaloes are safe. Many of the bovines are injured due to the flood, but we have not noticed any infection, so far. The live cattle have been washed away to as far as 2km and we are tracking them and bringing them back to the shelter,” Parab said.
Majority of the animals housed in the gaushala were stray cattle and animals rescued after road accidents. A team of veterinary doctors is carrying out verification to make an inventory of the lost animals.
The fire services control room also received a few calls for animal rescue on July 23. However, not all were calls for flood rescue. A calf fallen into a nullah in Vasco, a cow fallen into a trench in Curchorem and two animals hit in an accident on the highway in Canacona were rescued by the officers that day.
Goa has India’s best mangrove forests and is home to 16 species > Panaji: Goa’s hinterland has been left battered by the worst floods the state has seen in forty years. As July 26 is observed as World Mangrove Day, experts warn that the state’s coast could also face similar flooding if encroachments on mangrove forest patches are not prevented.
At present, Goa does not even have a correct assessment of its mangrove cover. And though legislations call for compensatory reforestation of mangrove patches cleared for constructions, replantation of mangroves does not get as much importance as forest trees.
“When Canacona taluka had to face the 2009 floods, people living in the coastal areas of Mashem and Galgibaga fully understood the importance of mangroves in their locality. It is seen that because there is not much awareness about mangroves, people exploit them. Many cut them for firewood and others are just ignorant about their existence,” said Chandralekha Damodar Mestri, member of the Mangrove Society of India, which has its base in Goa with professors, scientists and laymen as members spread across the country.
Goa houses 16 mangrove species and is considered to have among the best mangrove forests in the country. The patches found in Chorao Island have most of the species found in Goa, Mestri said. Yet, awareness about the importance of the mangrove ecosystem is not among the best in the country.
“The roots of mangrove trees are a dense tangle and act like netting, which traps sediments and arrests soil erosion. It roots allow the trees to handle the daily rise and fall of tides. The roots also slow the movement of tidal waters. Together, this mechanism help minimise the effects of flooding,” said Vinod Dhargalkar, executive member of Mangrove Society of India.
The mangrove ecosystem is also believed to help mitigate the effects of global warming. “Mangroves help stabilize the coast and beaches. They protect land from tidal surges and cyclonic storms,” said Mestri. The society believes it is time local bodies take up preservation of mangroves with seriousness.....
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com [...] 742590.cms
https://www.theguardian.com/austral [...] -bellowing
Les inondations qui ont affecté gravement la population en Inde, en a fait de même avec les animaux....
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