Alappuzha: The district officials will carry out the culling of 6,777 birds within a 1 km radius of ward 9 of Ambalapuzha North Panchayat where the latest outbreak of bird flu has been detected. With this, the total number of birds culled during this year in the district will reach 60, 232.
It was on April 17 that bird flu was first confirmed in Cheruthana and Edathua Panchayats in the district. While a little over 15,000 birds were culled during the first phase in these panchayats, around 30,000 birds were culled on April 30 as more cases were detected in Ambalapuzha North, Thakazhi and Edathua Panchayats.
On May 4, the remaining 15,300 birds in the Edathua Panchayat were culled, which took the overall number of culled birds to 53,455. Panchayat wise, the number of culled birds are Cheruthana - 11,939, Edathua - 31,811, Ambalapuzha North - 540 (6,777 to be culled today) and Thakazhi 9,165.
Sale of meat, eggs and fertilizer of the birds have been banned in 12 panchayats and 15 wards under Alappuzha municipality till May 16. Rearing of birds has been banned for three months from the day of the culling in places located within a 1 km radius of the origin of the flu.
The farmers are to be compensated with Rs 100 each for ducklings and chickens less than 2 months old, and Rs 200 each for those above 2 months. Rs 5 will be given per egg destroyed as part of the process. A hike in the compensation amount, which was fixed ten years ago in 2014, is under consideration by the animal husbandry department.
