Protect the Ponies, mules, equines on Kedarnath route. Hapless creatures are real Godly creatures. Save and protect them !
HUMAN BEINGS has indeed become so selfish that he is least worried for the health of the pet animals who are his and his family’s constant source of income. There have been number of incessant complaints regarding exploitation of ponies ( KHACHCHARS))/ Equines/ Stud Horeses at Kedarnath who walk with hundreds of kilos of load against their wishes falling repeatedly and bearing the brunt of their owners who inflict injuries with repeated sticks beating.
The media has been highlighting the plight of these ponies dying on the way due to malnutrition and carrying excessive luggage including lifting overweight pilgrims to Kedarnath temple to an fro covering steep height of 16 kilometres and another 16 klmts downwards. According to a news report in 2019 over two dozen ponies had met the tragic end who used to ferry pilgrims and excessive loads on their backs from Sonprayag to Kedarnath. These deaths of hapless voiceless ponies / equines occurred due to their shoddy medical care and over working hours beyond their ( ponies) physical capacity to sustain and bear the pain etc. In 2018 shockingly 80 ponies had succumbed to diseases, malnutrition, over working hours and shoddy medical care and lack of adequate arrangements on the steep route to Kedarnath and their total negligence by the owners. According to a report of Planet Custodian 7, June, 2022 sixty ponies/ mules had died during the span of mere twenty days. In another report published in NBT on 23 rd July 2022, about 175 ponies had died in just 46 days in Kedarnath route due to utter negligence by the owner, dehydration, shoddy medical care and physical lashing on the way , making these ponies move despite their bodies not able to lift the pilgrims or weight of the luggage. According to the shocking revelations beyond one’s belief about 8,516 stud horses/ ponies were registered for steep Gaurikund Kedarnath route on which 2 lakh 69000 pilgrims travelled on these ponies. The income generated through these ponies/ stud horse/ mules etc was staggering Rs 56 crores and the income earned through registration by Panchayats was merely 29 lakhs.
In another report of 8 June, 2022 of The New Indian about 600 equines had died on the upper reaches of Pilgrims Tracks of Uttarakhand in merely two months unambiguously revealing the evidence of equine abuse and exploitation for earning not taking any medical care of these animals managing the survival of thousand of families. The Uttarakhand High Court on the basis of a PIL had directed the government to conduct the Yatra in a safe manner but of no avail. The PIL was filed by animal rights activist of Dehradun Gauri Maulekhi, member secretary of People’s for animals. On Kedarnath Yatra season there have been several instances of the ponies/ miles/ equines being utterly exploited on the 16 kilometres steep mountainous terrain with the owners least caring for their health, food and comfort with majority of these animals dying of excessive work load, fatigue, mal nutrition, shoddy medical care, dehydration and their growing old etc with government bodies literally making no safe arrangements on the way.
It is high time the government should be attentive to these hapless animals dying for want of medical care n exploitation by their owners. To pay obeisance to Gods by travelling over these ponies / equines etc is no Godly justice as humanity demands due care for the voiceless creatures first and foremost.
According to a latest news during the last two weeks about 16 horses, ponies have died due to excessive dehydration as the owners are not feeding them with enough water, rest and fodder as carrying excessive weight, pilgrims on their backs covering steep height of 16 kilometres these hapless creatures are not fed with water and shoddy medical help leads to their instantaneous deaths.
While some ponies, stud horses had died due to being slipped on the way probably not able to bear the weight dur to fatigue. Walking on the snow clad routes too is very problematic for these ponies n stud horses. Compared to these 16 deaths, last year about 48 ponies, stud horses have died sadly.
