Help poor families in West Bengal feed their animals

While the entire country was reeling under the effects of COVID 19 and the impact of the nationwide lockdown that followed, parts of Odisha and West Bengal were ravaged by Cyclone Amphan that caused further devastation. The cyclone affected over two million people between these two states. However, coastal West Bengal felt the full force of it. Relief efforts led by government agencies, supported by humanitarian groups and the community at large, have risen to the occasion as always to help affected families re-build their lives. Unfortunately, little to no institutional efforts have been made to support animals that are affected, in-turn also helping the families that are dependant on livestock for their livelihood.

Amphan is the first super cyclonic storm to occur in the Bay of Bengal since the 1999 Odisha Cyclone. With wind speeds of 260 kmph, it is estimated to have caused US 13 billion dollars worth of damage with 128 lives lost in India and Bangladesh. An overwhelming majority of this is in the state of West Bengal where aside from the lives lost and property damage, 88,000 hectares of rice paddies and 200,000 hectares of vegetable and sesame crops were lost. While the state government paid heed to the early warnings of the IMD and evacuated thousands of people, the capacity of cyclone shelters were also crippled by the prevalent COVID 19 situation. The South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal is arguably the worst affected, with Gosaba alone losing over 26,000 homes. Families with cattle who are also their livelihoods do not have anything to feed them.

Humane Society International/India (HSI/India) worked with the Animal Husbandry Department,Government of West Bengal to identify the most affected villages and provide relief to the animals owned by pastoral farmers in the South 24 Parganas district. The lives of these farmers depend on these animals and after losing their homes to Cyclone Amphan, they are losing their animals to starvation. They are unable to feed their animals. Some are being forced to abandon their animals because of their helplessness. In response, staff and volunteers of HSI/India distributed 5000 kilograms of nutritious cattle feed to 350 families in the villages of Gosaba and Basanti. This helped feed more than 1050 cattle in these villages.

But this is not enough and HSI/India cannot do it alone. There are atleast three more villages where animals require urgent help! The animal husbandry department has now identified a 3 more villages within the same district with more than 2500 families who depend on 2000 animals for their living, They are in immediate need of support through fodder for their livestock. Some of the community members are so poor, they are unable to afford or do not have access to masks. In addition to help feed their livestock, HSI/India will work to provide masks to families too.

With a donation of 1000 INR, you will be able to help feed one animal twice a day for 10 days in South 24 Parganas. With 3000 INR, you will be able to help the family feed all their cattle two fulfilling meals a day. Your support will go a long way in not just feeding the hungry animals but also ensuring the economical burden of purchasing feed for their animals is taken off the hands of farmers in the region, while they focus on rebuilding their homes and lives.