Scores of goats die in suspicious manner in Telangana’s Khammam

Local farmers suspect that the goats that grazed in an okra field might have consumed vegetation sprayed with chemical pesticides. They say many dead goats were seen in the field and under trees

Khammam: Scores of goats died in a suspicious manner at Arekodu thanda of Khammam rural mandal in the Palair Assembly constituency in the district on Sunday.

According to farmers, nearly 300 goats that had gone out to graze in the thanda suddenly collapsed. Of these, 75 goats died. Some of them died while being treated at the District Veterinary Hospital at Raparthi Nagar in Khammam. Another 50 goats were being treated.

Farmers were suspecting that the goats that grazed in an okra field might have consumed vegetation sprayed with chemical pesticides. Locals said many dead goats were seen in the fields and under the trees near the field and most of the goats had fallen ill.

CPI leaders Bagam Hemantha Rao, Dandi Suresh, Yedlapalli Shankaraiah and others reached the hospital and consoled the farmers. They spoke to the doctors, who said the reason for the deaths could be known only after a post-mortem examination was conducted.

The goats were being reared by 20 families of the thanda. The stomachs of the dead goats was said to be in a bloated condition.

The CPI leaders appealed to the government to come to the rescue of the farmers and help them financially.