Cattle farmer loses dozens of animals to floods

Flooding in the Cookrite Savannah, Region Six, has left a cattle farmer devastated and officials grappling for solutions. Farmer Rabindra Rabinauth said he lost 40 cows after floodwaters forced the animals to wander off.

“I only find 15 so far. Over two weeks now me searching,” he told Ignite News.

Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Chairperson Lolita Sanichar said the area has experienced heavy rains over the past two weeks.

“We cannot bring the water in, because as soon as we bring the water in and if the rain should fall, we’ll get problems. The what happened exactly the last time they tried to drain the Savannah— because there was lots of water there — and if the water keeps staying there, then then the conservancy dam could away then everything will flood. So, they would try to release the water for about an hour or two through the drainage system to get it out to the sea,” she said.

Meanwhile, Region Six Vice Chairman Zamal Hussain, who visited the community, emphasised that the ongoing Hope-Like Canal project is aimed at improving drainage in the long term, but progress has been slowed due to the weather conditions.

“Well, it’s the heavy rainfall. Because of the ongoing project that we have there, where we’re doing the Hope-Like Canal — you remember that — the heavy rainfall we got delayed the project. It’s not completed yet; it’s ongoing. So we have to build the other infrastructure now to take the water out into the main canal, which is the Hope-Like Canal. All these canals and the distributary that we built are linked to the main canal. The project is ongoing, but because of the rain, we had to put a hold on it.”

Officials say water levels are being monitored closely, and efforts will continue to manage the situation carefully.

Vice Chairman Zamal Hussain interacts with farmers