Mizoram’s lone Rajya Sabha member K. Vanlalvena on Friday urged the Centre to provide compensation to pig farmers, whose pigs have died due to the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the state.
Vanlalvena informed the parliament on Friday that over 29,800 pigs have been killed in Mizoram due to the outbreak of ASF and termed the outbreak as a “Disaster and natural calamity” for the poor farmers.
The monetary loss caused by the outbreak of ASF is estimated to be around Rs 8,000 crore, he said.
He urged the Centre to compensate the pig farmers for their losses.
According to state animal husbandry and veterinary science minister Dr. K. Beichhua, many as 29,803 pigs have been killed due to the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Mizoram since March when the first pig death due to the dreaded disease was reported at Lungsen village in south Mizoram’s Lunglei district.
While addressing a party meeting here on Friday, the minister said that at least 10,380 pigs suspected to be infected with ASF have been culled so far.
“As many as 29,803 pigs have been confirmed dead due to ASF in 8 months since March 21 and 533 others died due to suspected ASF,” he said.
At least 272 villages across all eleven districts are currently affected by the ASF outbreak, he said.
He said that the government is making massive efforts to contain the outbreak.
Meanwhile, officials of the animal husbandry and veterinary science department said that the number of single-day pig death due to ASF has significantly declined for a few months.
They said that two fatalities were reported on Friday.
The first outbreak of ASF believed to be caused by pigs imported from Bangladesh was reported at Lungsen village in south Mizoram’s Lunglei district near the Bangladesh border on March 21.
Later in mid-April, the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal confirmed it to be ASF.
Mizoram shares inter-state borders with Assam, Manipur, and Tripura and also international boundaries with Bangladesh in the west and Myanmar in the east.