Bovine and simian population cries for help

Agra, April 11 (IANS) Not only citizens are facing problems due to nationwide lockdown, the bovine and simian population is also suffering from it.

While arrangements for supply of essentials and ready to eat food packets have been made by the administration and good samaritans, stray cattle, dogs and birds are going through a rough time, with hardly any succour.

Even during the lockdown, a lot animal lovers were seen feeding the monkeys and dogs early in the morning. “But after the sealing of large parts of the city and police becoming very strict, no one is now coming to the Yamuna Kinara road, which has thousands of simians and birds including crows and arrows. If this continued for some more days, ere would be inevitable tragedies,” warned pandit Jugal Kishore Shrotriya of the River Connect Campaign.

The situation is hardly better in the holy towns of Mathura and Vrindavan where monkeys are turning aggressive, as they have nothing to eat. The number of pilgrims has come down to zero.

“With our limited resources we are able to feed some stray cows on the road but n the villages and smaller towns of Braj, the situation is really serious,” said Jagan Nath Poddar, convener of Friends of Vrindavan, an NGO.

The Yogi government should address this problem, Poddar said.

The simian population in Agra, Mathura, Vrindavan and Goverdhan could easily exceed 50,000.

–IANS

bk/rt