Punjab to send liberal animal fodder to Bihar

Chandigarh, Aug 22 (UNI) The Punjab Government will send liberal animal fodder as relief to help the beleaguered flood affected people of Bihar.

The consignments of relief would be dispatched from Ludhiana in specially charted trains, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said at a media interaction here today.

The Chief Minister took this decision in response to a request made by his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar that Punjab should dispatch sufficient quantity of fodder, especially wheat chaff (Turi) to the former state.

Animals in large number were dying of starvation daily due to the non-availability of fodder in Bihar. Mr Badal directed the state and district authorities to mobilize popular support for this humanitarian cause.

Reminding the people of Punjab of their age-old tradition of extending all out help and support to the needy in the hour of crisis, Mr Badal appealed them to come forward and bail out the flood affected victims of Bihar, who had suffered a substantial damage to crops, loss of human lives, livestock and property during the recent flash floods.

The Chief Minister also asked the Members of Parliament, MLAs, Members of the SGPC and District Presidents of SAD to mobilize the people's support in this behalf.

He also appealed to all voluntary, religious and non-government organisations to motivate the people for lending a helping hand to the people of Bihar.

UNI