Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Aug 3: Farmers in Gurez sector of Bandipora district are suffering huge losses as their cattle cross over to the Line of Control (LoC) and they fail to retrieve them due to fence and landmines.
The crossover of the animals to the PoK has left many farmers’ lives miserable as the animals are an economic asset to them.
“More than 400 cattle crossed the LoC while grazing in the forests from last few months. This has snatched the livelihood of scores of families here,” Irshad Ahmad Beigh, a farmer said.
“Domestication of animals is the mainstay of livelihood here as the main agriculture land here has been rendered useless due to the LoC fence constructed a decade ago,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Mohammad Yousuf Zarger, told Excelsior that the administration can’t help the farmers in recovering the cattle, and instead asked them to remain cautious.
Similarly, in Tulail, shepherds also said that are losing their cattle to the LoC cross over. “I was taking a nap when some of my cattle reached near LoC, but I could not turn them back due to the fear of land mines,” Noor Mohammad, a shepherd said.
Mohammad said that the incidents of crossing the cattle to the PoK have happened in the past as well, but nobody came forward to find a solution.
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