Starving steeds

With the lockdown and no customers, saddle horses survive on the kindness of a few

gallery-image Beast and burden: A sickly horse at Kolkata Maidan.
gallery-image Carriages parked under a flyover in nearby Kidderpore.
gallery-image There are more than 150 horses at the “stable”, which is basically the space under a flyover where the horses have been kept.
gallery-image A boy plays with one of the horses there.

A VISIT TO the City of Joy feels incomplete without a ride around the Victoria Memorial in a horse-drawn carriage. The lockdown, however, has left the area deserted, in turn affecting the carriage business and leaving the horses underfed. The animals now loiter around in nearby Kidderpore, tired and looking for food.

In need of feed: a horse tries to shake off a crow at a makeshift stable in Kidderpore. In need of feed: a horse tries to shake off a crow at a makeshift stable in Kidderpore.

On a regular day, before the pandemic, more than 150 horses carried tourists in well-decorated carriages and sometimes children on their backs. Now, however, their owners are unable to feed them. In fact, many of the owners have returned to their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, abandoning the animals in Kolkata. “We are taking care of their horses,” said Mohammad Feroz, one of the local owners. “Even if the lockdown is lifted, there will be no tourists for some time. We used to earn Rs400 a trip and around Rs6,000 to Rs8,000 for weddings, depending on distance.”

Said Ajay Daga, a member of the NGO People For Animals: “When news of a horse dying during the first week of lockdown appeared on social media, I got a call from (BJP MP and PFA founder) Maneka Gandhi. She inquired about the condition of the horses here.”

The former Union minister, known to be an animal lover, has assured all assistance, he added. “At present, we are feeding these animals with the help of the people of Kolkata who are generously donating,” said Daga. “We also got support from the Kolkata Mounted Police and the local councillor.”

As of now, PFA is feeding the horses for two and a half days a week; other organisations chip in on the remaining days. “We will feed the horses till the situation becomes normal after the lockdown is lifted,” said Daga.

Susmita Bhattacharya, the local councillor, said she was trying to help them in several ways, including by providing drinking water for the horses and by getting help from other organisations. “Normally, a sack of fodder would cost around Rs850; now it about Rs1,150,” she said. “Thanks to PFA, the Kolkata Mounted Police and others, we have been able to keep these horses alive.”