JORABAT, July 11 - The only goat research station of Assam and the North East has been hit by flash-flood this season, affecting the normal working condition of the station.
This Goat Research Station (GRS) located at 13th Mile near Jorabat is under the Directorate of Research (vety) of the Assam Agricultural University. It has helped transform the living standards of people involved in goat farming. Apart from this, GRS does breeding and carries out training programmes in which scientists visit the villages and try to develop goat villages in the State.
The flood water has submerges a large part of the GRS complex, making difficult for the staff to feed the goats kept in the shed.
Dr Kandarpa Baruah, Senior Research Fellow at GRS said a brief downpour results in flash flood at the station and nearby areas as the drain is occupied illegally resulting in a reduction of its breadth in some stretches along the Jorabat-Byrnihat road and subsequent overflow of the drain water and submergence of the nearby areas.
The GRS has high quality goats like Betel, Sirohi, cross-bred and Assam hill goats. In the last few years 11 goats have died as flash flood damaged fodder meant for the goats. The station is witnessing flood every year after the construction of the four-lane national highway.
Dr Jai Prakash Sharma, another Senior Research Fellow of GRS said, �Flood has affected the station badly as we cannot feed the goats on time, having to wait for the floodwater to recede.� The grass grown for grazing purpose has also been washed away by the flood, he added. AASU�s Jorabat unit advisor Arnab Bhattacharjee expressed concern over the issue, pointing out that man-made factors are mostly responsible for the frequent flash flood.
