Jagdish Thind
Fazilka, June 14, 2019: Government Cattle Pond in 15 acres of land near Nawan Salem Shah village is proving to be very beneficial for stray animals. This cattle pond was started by district administration in November 2016 under the patronage of District Animal Welfare Society with 15 animals. Now, this pond has been taking care of 400 animals, besides providing the employment opportunities to the localites especially youngsters of the district.
Divulging further, the Deputy Commissioner Mr. Manpreet Singh Chhatwal said that more than 400 animals are being taken care in this Cattle Pond. "This Gaushala is situated in 15 acres of land, of which 7 acres have been used for cultivation of fodder, while 8 acres were used for 4 sheds, out of which, two are of capacity of 500 cattles and two sheds of capacity around 1200 quintals have been constructed for fodder storage", he said.
Deputy Commissioner said that about 1.5 lakh rupees are spent every month for cattle feed, medicines, fodder, employee salaries and other arrangements for maintenance of the cattle pond. He said that the burden of this expenditure is borne by the society's funding and with the support of the social service organizations of the district. He said that Hindu Gua Raksha Dal has provided tractor besides giving financial aid to purchase the trolley.
Deputy Commissioner added that this Gaushala is also playing an important role in preventing incidents of burning of paddy straw and other crops residue, which is used as feed for animals. Social activists and organizers collected paddy straw and crops residue from the fields of the farmers and stored it in cattle pond and Gaushala has about 1500 quintals of dry fodder storage. He said that this pond also created opportunities of employment for 1 Care taker, 2 attendants and 1 watchman and MGNREGA workers. He further said that social workers and other representatives who are contributing in Gaushala are being honoured on 15th August and 26th January every year.
Deputy Commissioner appealed to the residents to donate maximum for Gaushala. He said that donation for Gaushala can be directly deposited in bank account of District Animal Welfare Society or anyone can contact Deputy Commissioner office on telephone number 01638-260555.