SLOW AS USUAL

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There is no alternative to immediate action with epidemics like bird flu. West Bengal, by now, has had a record number of chances to learn this — almost 40 outbreaks here (and in Tripura) in the first six months of this year. But culling is yet to pick up emergency-level speed in Malda, where a fairly severe outbreak had been confirmed on Monday. The laboratory in Bhopal, which did the tests, had sent its verdict to the Writers’ Buildings by Monday afternoon. The latter had announced that culling would begin in Malda by Tuesday morning. But official instructions from the state government had not reached the district administration even on Monday night. So, culling did not begin until late Tuesday evening, and then too very slowly, although the government declared that full-fledged culling had started since early afternoon. Another reason why culling could not be started immediately was that the culling team had to set out to the villages without any compensation money for the people who were bringing their birds to be killed. This was because the bank draft was taking a while to be encashed. So it is a combination of poor coordination and red tape that has delayed the prescribed measures in Malda. The Centre has quite rightly decided to be severe with West Bengal this time. In spite of being reminded several times about the repeated outbreaks in the state this year, and of being told to reckon with the fact that bird flu had reached alarming levels in neighbouring Assam, West Bengal did not take adequate measures. It does not show the state government in a very dignified light to be asked to report to the Centre every morning, without fail, about the day’s progress in dealing with the situation in Malda. If other states in the Northeast can tackle similar situations satisfactorily, there is no reason why West Bengal should fail repeatedly to combine effective awareness-raising among poultry owners, efficient culling and promptly paid compensation.