Tuesday, January 6, 2009

SILIGURI: Bird Flu - Culling to be over soon

SILIGURI: Bird Flu - Culling to be over soon

Posted by barunroy on January 6, 2009

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, Jan. 5: The ongoing culling operation in Siliguri and its adjoining areas which started on Saturday is likely to be over in the next two days, said the Darjeeling district magistrate Mr Surendra Gupta today.

“The district animal resources development department duly assisted by the district administration and the local police has already slaughtered more than 10,000 birds by this evening and the target being 18, 000, we might just complete the operation by tomorrow or by latest day after tomorrow,” he said.

The additional district magistrate, Jalpaiguri Mr N G Hira also said that culling would be completed by tomorrow in the avian flu affected Rajganj block of the district.

Satisfied with the anti-bird flu operation, the Darjeeling DM said that around 7,000 birds had been culled by this evening. “These culling figures mark progress in comparison with those of yesterday which was around 3,500. And if this continues the culling operation is expected to be over by Wednesday,” he said. Asked whether the administration had encountered any resistance from the poultry owners in course of the slaughter operation Mr Gupta, said that the teams faced some resistance by a handful of traders in the Matigara block. “We, however, succeeded in convincing most of them saying that the operation was undertaken to keep the dreaded disease at bay,” he said.

“A few traders have expressed reservation over not being provided with any official papers in support of the culling operation. But we have told them that the operation is being conducted as per the order duly issued by the district administration. We are, however, not in a position to provide the documents to the poultry owners,” he said.

Mr Gupta further said that the mopping would immediately follow the culling exercise to eliminate the birds left out in course of the culling operation. “The whole process would be complete, hopefully, within seven to 10 days,” he said.

Speaking on the matter the SDO, Siliguri Mr Sharad Diwedi said that to speed up the operation four more teams had been added to the previous 20 teams. “Now 24 well equipped teams with the required expertise are conducting the operation round the clock to wipe out the living sources of the flu,” he said.

Alarm bell rings in Sikkim

The veterinary services in Sikkim have appealed to the public against bringing in chicken or poultry from outside the state. This is in view of the Bird Flu outbreak in neighbouring Darjeeling district. The VS has also fixed the price of local chicken at Rs 90 a kg. Chicken is being sold at Rs 130 to 140 per kg in the state currently.

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