A public interest litigation was filed on Monday in the Bombay High Court seeking direction to the Maharashtra government to come up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) to tackle rising cases of lumpy skin disease among cattle.

The petition filed by Swambhiman Shetkari Sangh founder Raju Shetti claimed lumpy skin disease was on the rise but the state government was not doing anything except issuing circulars on the issue. The plea said the government ought to take steps under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act.

As per the PIL, farmers would require economic support from the government as they are facing hardships due to recent heavy rains and now their livestock was under threat from lumpy skin disease.

Shetti's PIL sought mass vaccination of cattle to control the spread of lumpy skin disease and compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh per head of cattle dead. The plea is likely to come up for hearing before a division bench headed by Justice S V Gangapurwala this week.

(With PTI inputs)