Anti-smuggling drive stepped

Obaidul Ghani

The government has strengthened the anti-smuggling drive in the border areas adjoining neighbouring India fearing fresh bird flu outbreak in the country, a top official of the fisheries and livestock ministry said on Thursday.
The stepped-up drive is aimed at stopping entry of any poultry birds from India as the avian flu has already broken out in its two states of Assam and West Bengal, said Syed Ataur Rahman, secretary of the ministry.
‘The government has directed the Bangladesh Rifles to step up anti-smuggling drive in the border areas and also asked the deputy commissioners of 64 districts to reinforce the activities of the respective anti-smuggling committees’, he said.
Meanwhile, the department of livestock services has culled some 945 poultry birds including 128 backyard poultry on December 23 as fresh bird flu virus has been detected in backyard poultry at sadar upazila in Kurigram and a commercial poultry farm in Gaibandha.
The government has also decided to step up surveillance at all the poultry farms across the country to properly monitor infection of deadly viral disease (H5N1) in poultry birds.
The ministry concerned has formed a 16-member monitoring committee headed by fisheries and livestock secretary incorporating the health and family welfare ministry, city corporation, livestock services department and different private sector organisations in it.
The committee will sit in a regular meeting every week and discuss the bird flu situation in the country, the official said.
Besides, a two-member committee will be formed at every union parishad to be headed by its chairman as convenor and member as the member secretary, said the ministry official.
The committee will inform the surveillance team of information on any kind of diseases contaminating the poultry farm in their respective areas.
The government also has a plan to provide training to 2,000 poultry traders at some 300 kitchen markets in the Dhaka city to create awareness among them of handling of chickens.
The convenor of the Bangladesh Poultry Co-ordination Committee, a platform of five poultry-related organisations, Moshiur Rahman, told New Age that although bird flu situation in the country is not so grave as that of India, the government should immediately introduce an action plan to fight bird flu.
He also stressed the action plan must be designed by a co-ordination committee involving all the quarters including the donor agencies.
The prices of poultry and poultry products in the country have already declined due to bird flu scare.
Per kilogram of poultry meat is now selling for Tk 60 while its price was Tk 120 a two weeks back, said the association leader.
The avian flu has been so far detected at 294 poultry farms in 143 upazilas under 47 districts and some 16,47,437 chicks at 554 poultry farms has been culled. The first bird flu case was detected in March last year.