BURNIHAT (Kamrup metro): Authorities of Assam Agricultural University (AAU) will assess the condition of the flood-affected Goat Research Station at Burnihat on the Assam-Meghalaya border from Wednesday.
A late night downpour on August 23 had not only submerged to entire campus of the lone goat research facility (under AAU) in the Northeast but resulted in the drowning of as many as seven goats, most of them calves, which were sleeping at the sheds near the highway.
“A meeting in this regard was chaired by the Vice Chancellor of AAU in Guwahati today and he has asked engineers to assess the damage and take immediate remedial and preventive measures against flash floods in the area from Wednesday,” Dr Abdus Saleque, chief scientist at the Goat Research Station, told The Shillong Times on Tuesday.
Five out of the seven deceased goats were calves. “Four of them were cross-bred, two Beetel (brought from Punjab) and one Assam Hill goat. They were all healthy and died due to drowning. The water level inside the campus rose to an unprecedented level (about five feet), thereby entering the sheds where they were kept,” Saleque said.
At present there are 197 goats at the centre which conducts research and performs basically two types of breeding, selective and cross, for developing the goat population and improving their health. A majority of them are Assam Hill goats even as the research centre is aiming at increasing and improving the cross-bred (Beetel and local) variety.
“Besides, poultry stock too was affected with 29 of them dying owing to the deluge,” he said.
The Assam government had procured two Sirohi goats from its Silonijan farm for semen production at the research station, located in the 13th Mile area, about 25km from Guwahati.
Now, ever since construction of the four-lane highway started, the surface area of the campus of the research station has been lowered by about four feet, which results in water logging triggered by flash floods in the area.
“The official quarters were also affected by the floods,” he added.
Locals attribute the cause of floods to massive hill cutting in the hills of Meghalaya on the other side even as lack of proper drainage and clogging due to haphazard dumping of waste has compounded the problem of late.
Sources at the centre said that even the special grass grown to feed the goats have been damaged to an extent, prompting them to use tree leaves as an option. Generally, hybrid Napier grass, Guinea, Para and Setaria varieties are grown as fodder for the goats.