Wagah quarantine a non-starter

The animal quarantine in Wagah (Amritsar), announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March last year, remains a non-starter. No initiative has been taken to execute the project.

The quarantine is expected to boost the export of livestock to Pakistan, where there is huge demand. Experts say the demand is likely to grow manifold once the quarantine is set up, and can even be 20,000 animals per month. Now it's 1,000-4,000 per month (at present exporters are sending goats and sheep through Wagah). It is likely to facilitate exports to Afghanistan also.

In April last year, the Pakistan government allowed six items--onions, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, meat and livestock (including buffaloes, cows, goats, sheep and camels)--to be imported from India through the Wagah land route.

At present, in the absence of quarantine facilities in Wagah, exporters have to travel to Delhi to get a certificate declaring that the animals to be exported are free from disease. The process takes 3-4 days and is costly.

Even two years ago, former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh failed to bring an Arabian horse--gifted to him by his Pakistan Punjab counterpart Pervaiz Elahi--to India because of there being no animal quarantine facilities in Wagah.

Narain Exim Corporation President Rajdeep Singh Uppal said, "At present we are procuring animals from Delhi and surrounding areas. There, the animals are quarantined and blood samples are taken for issuing fitness certification. The process takes 3-4 days. Apart from the transportation cost, we have to bear the quarantine and blood testing charges."

Uppal said setting up quarantine facilities in Wagah would give a fillip to the livestock trade, because animals could be procured from the local market and tested locally, which would lead to a drastic cut in input cost.

On average, 4,000 animals used to be exported to Pakistan through Wagah a month, but due to intense heat and the rise of the rupee the number got reduced to 1,000 per month.

Commenting on buffalo export, he said, "About two years ago, I asked for permission to export buffaloes, but the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade said the matter came under the purview of the animal husbandry department, and nothing has been done in that regard. If the departmental procedure takes so long, how will exports take place?"

He said trade should be for at least eight hours a day. At present, it is less than six hours.