An outbreak of lumpy skin disease has hit Rajasthan, leaving thousands of infected cows, dead bodies in cities and villages, and rural economies collapsing
Dead bodies being buried at a gaushala in Jaipur; (Photo: Purushottam Diwakar)
A Crows slay in the distance, waiting for an opportunity to dive-bomb a cow carcass lying in a freshly dug pit, when the screech of a tractor engine stirs activity below. Three men run to the vehicle and help lift its driver and throw two more bodies – consisting of the same lumps of skin as the first one – into a large pit. As the sky turns shades of blue to bronze, the tractor makes a dozen rounds, bringing back more dead cattle to fill the mass grave. When the number is up to 20, a JCB machine starts covering the mound with soil that it excavated from an adjacent site. It’s already dark. The crows are gone, and so are the men, leaving behind another huge hole in the soggy ground. To be filled tomorrow.