Malda culling plan goes haywire

17 Dec 2008, 0245 hrs IST, TNN

MALDA/KOLKATA: Thanks to the lack of co-ordination among government officials on Tuesday, culling was hampered severely in the bird-flu affected areas of Malda. While the target for a three-four day operation is 20,000 fowl, government teams managed to cull just 150 birds till late evening. All day the culling teams stood waiting as villagers refused to give up their birds without compensation money, which was yet to reach the district officials. At Budhia, which has seen hundreds of chickens dying over the past two days, people mobbed panchayat samiti sabhapati Akram Hossain. Hossain admitted, "There was lack of co-ordination, which delayed the culling." By the time problems were sorted out, dusk had fallen and officials had to return from most of the villages. The culling teams reached Narhatta High School the operational headquarters around 3 pm before moving off to the villages in smaller groups. But nobody had any money. A district official confided, "We lacked the manpower and hence the delay. Tomorrow things will be in order." In Kolkata, animal resources development (ARD) department secretary Dilip Chakraborty said, "There is no bar not even in the affected areas of Malda on eating poultry products. The usual method of eating chicken products after boiling at 70 degrees stands." The state government issued a notification on avian flu after the attack was confirmed on Monday. Malda DM Sridhar Ghosh said, "Around 16,505 chickens within a 3 km radius of Satgharia will be culled. We've received Rs 40 lakh for the culling operation." The rate of compensation has increased this time: Rs 50 for a full-grown chicken instead of Rs 30. Chickens up to 10 weeks old would get Rs 20. For the first time, Rs 2 would be paid for an egg. Many villagers doubted if money would reach them, as many English Bazar families that gave up their chickens for culling in March, are yet to receive any money, the administration said. In March, 23,572 birds were culled in English Bazar after bird flu detected in a government poultry firm. An official said, "We have sent a list of beneficiaries and other expenses for culling and mopping, but the funds are yet to reach us." Several crows also died in Budhia village, triggering speculation that these had contracted avian flu. The ARD secretary said all districts were on alert and a special vigil had been ordered in the border districts. "The forest department has been alerted for any signs of the disease in migratory birds," he said.