Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government will launch a 15-day, mission-mode campaign from September 8 to 23 to intensify the prevention and control of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) among livestock in affected districts.
Livestock and Dairy Development Minister Dharampal Singh has directed officials to ensure comprehensive arrangements in districts reporting cases and announced the appointment of nodal officers across the state’s 18 divisions to oversee the disease-control campaign.
Chairing a high-level meeting at his office in the Vidhan Bhawan on Monday, Singh directed officials to prepare vaccination plans for affected areas and conduct intensive vaccination drives. He specifically ordered belt vaccination from Lakhimpur Kheri to Agra and called for restrictions on the movement of animals in affected areas to prevent further transmission.
Singh stressed that adequate stocks of vaccines must be maintained across the state and that vaccination should be carried out intensively in vulnerable areas. He warned that officials found negligent in implementing disease-control measures during the 15-day campaign would face strict action.
Special attention has also been ordered for sanitation and cleanliness at cow shelters and cow protection centres. Teams constituted under the minister’s supervision will conduct field inspections of affected areas and monitor disease surveillance, the extent of outbreaks, vaccination, preventive measures and availability of medicines.
Singh directed the department to work in close coordination with district administrations and formulate area-specific strategies for prevention and control. He also called for an extensive public awareness campaign, including posters, banners, hoardings and wall paintings at public places explaining what livestock owners and farmers should and should not do to protect animals from the disease.
The minister further urged officials to involve elected representatives in awareness efforts. He clarified that Lumpy Skin Disease does not spread from animals to humans and asked authorities to educate livestock owners and farmers so that they remain alert to misinformation and rumours.
Nodal Officers Assigned Across Divisions
Under the campaign, senior officials have been assigned responsibility for monitoring operations across different divisions. Additional Chief Secretary Mukesh Kumar Meshram has been designated for the Agra and Lucknow divisions, while PCDF Managing Director Prakash Bindu will oversee Moradabad.
Dairy Commissioner Dhanlakshmi has been assigned Meerut, Special Secretary Dairy Ram Sahay Yadav will oversee Gorakhpur, and Special Secretary Livestock Vivek Srivastava will monitor Prayagraj. Dr Sangeeta, Director, Disease Control Field Operations, has been assigned Saharanpur, while Additional Director Megh Shyam will oversee Bareilly and Additional Director Dr Pramod will monitor Aligarh.
Other nodal officers include Dr Vivekanand for Kanpur, Dr Anil Kumar for Basti, Dr Shyam Nageena Ram for Chitrakoot, Joint Director Dr Sudhir for Mirzapur, Dr Piyush Tripathi for Ayodhya, Joint Director Pradeep Kumar for Azamgarh and Dr Keshav Kumar for Varanasi.
Meshram assured the minister that all directions would be implemented strictly. He said no indiscipline would be tolerated in the disease-control operation and that the campaign would be conducted in mission mode.
He added that districts reporting Lumpy Skin Disease cases are already undertaking treatment, vaccination and public-awareness activities. Additional Directors and Chief Veterinary Officers in the concerned areas will maintain intensive surveillance to ensure timely intervention and effective containment of the disease.
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