Despite pressure and protests from poultry farmers, the government has decided to declare Bhaktapur district a bird flu emergency zone from Thursday. The government move follows confirmation of 62 outbreaks in the district in the past three weeks. Ten of them were confirmed on Wednesday alone. Though the Department of Livestock Services (DoLS) had recommended making such a declaration earlier, the District Administration Office (DAO) buckled under pressure from poultry farmers and decided not to take the step on August 11. The DAO had then decided to keep the district under high surveillance for three days. In a letter, the DoLS instructed Chief District Officer of Bhaktapur Himnath Dawadi to seal poultry farms and go for blanket slaughtering in farms west of the Manohara river, including Mulpani, Gothatar and Pepsicola, in jungle areas near Kavre district in the east, areas demarcated by the Nagarkot jungle in the north and Nangkhel Gundu hill in the south of the district. Dawadi said the emergency will be in force for at least a week, while transportation and sale of poultry products will be banned in and around these areas within this period. Meanwhile, poultry farmers threatened to stage protests if the government failed to compensate them. “Wednesday’s decision was taken without our consent and we won’t let them touch our chickens until they agree to provide compensation as per the investment we have made,” said Tulsi Ram Dhukhwa, president of the Bhaktapur Poultry Association. Dawadi said security personnel will be mobilised as per the need to thwart any attempt by poultry farmers to stop the government from doing the needful. “The situation has now gone out of hand and public health will be exposed to very high risk if we do not take prompt measures, while chances of the flu spreading to other districts also remain high,” said Dawadi. Deputy Director of the DoLS Dr Ram Khatiwada said over 12 teams comprising a doctor, a technician and over 10 laboures will be deployed in the affected areas for blanket slaughtering of around 300,000 fowls from Thursday.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 07:12:58 +0000
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