While sources say the postmortem reports indicated malnutrition to be the cause of the death of the animals, farmers allege consumption of polluted groundwater caused the animals to die; Collector has formed a committee to probe the matter.
The death of nine cows in a short span of time in a dairy farm at Thirumanilaiyur has brought back the issue of polluted waterways here.
The farm owned by Velusamy had 19 cows when the first death was reported on May 20. The next day saw the death of another cow. Three cows died in a single day after one week and two more cows perished a few days after that. Tuesday saw the death of two more cows, thereby reducing the number of cows in the farm to 10.
The farmer had approached Collector M. Thangavel and the officials of the Animal Husbandry Department, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, to know the cause of death. Claiming that there was no response from them, he along with his wife Jasmine and three children went on to observe a relay fast at the farm for a few days last week.
The farmers allege that the deaths were due to the drinking of contaminated groundwater. They allege that the groundwater had been polluted because of discharge of untreated wastewater in a small channel from the dyeing units.
“We are in a state of shock. We do not know the exact reasons behind the death of our cows. Three weeks have gone since the death of the first animal. But the officials are yet to come out with reasons for the deaths,” said Ms. Jasmine.
In a petition sent to the Ministers and senior officials concerned, Arappor Iyakkam said that the death of the cows had destroyed the source of livelihood for the family. The district administration should have come out with the reasons for the death of the animals and taken remedial steps by this time. But there had been no transparency in the issue, it alleged.
According to sources, the officials of the Animal Husbandry Department visited the spot and collected samples for investigation. The postmortem of all nine cows had been done. On its part, the officials of the TNPCB also visited the spot and collected water samples for testing.
Quoting postmortem reports, an official told The Hindu that the cows had died due to malnutrition. The investigation revealed that they were short of calcium and protein. The immunity suppressed cows, which were kept in open waterlogged environment without shed, could not withstand a spell of heavy rain.
However, another official said the cause of the death of the animals could be clearly known only after the receipt of the findings of the toxicology report.
Meanwhile, the Collector has formed a committee consisting of officials from the Animal Husbandry Department, TNPCB, Revenue, Karur Corporation and the police to study the issue in detail.
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