Fowl culling hits roadblock
The local population is strongly resisting the culling drive in Manipur in the absence of 'adequate compensation', reports Sobhapati Samom.
Time is ticking away for the Manipur government, which needs to cull 1.5 lakh fowls to contain the bird-flu outbreak in the state. Killing 20,000 birds daily, the task it has set itself, is proving Herculean for the 32 Rapid Response Teams.
The local population is strongly resisting the culling drive in the absence of “adequate compensation”.
"We're ruined, all our chicks are gone," complained Irananda, whose Ira Poultry farm in Manipur's Imphal east district was the first to see the deadly H5N1 virus of avian Influenza killing 132 chicken in 6 days last week.
No less than 500-600 families in and around Imphal are likely to lose their poultry the coming days.
"The compensation paid is too low," said Th Milan,proprietor of TM Chicken centre in Imphal. The government is paying Rs 10 per chick, Rs 30 per broiler and Rs 40 per layer.”
No less than 500-600 families in and around Imphal are likely to lose their poultry the coming days.
In villages like Khabeisoi, poultry owners have refused
to hand over their birds. Hundreds of poultry farmers also complained that no disinfectants were used at the time of culling.
The 32 Rapid Response Teams of the State Veterinary Department are not proving enough. The general complaint is a shortage of manpower as well as a lack of coordination among the government machinery.
The morale of the teams too was low on Saturday after a member was reported to have died while using the disinfectant formalin.
Despite the problems, the teams managed to cull around 30,000 chickens, including 2,800 ducks in 32 villages out of the targeted 86 villages. Dr Th Dorendra,Director of the veterinary department, who supervises the field activities, sought help from media and public to overcome “difficulties in convincing the public".
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