Bird flu scare costs poultry industry Rs 20 cr

Bipin Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 23

The bird flu scare in the city has caused a loss of over Rs 20 crore to the poultry industry in Punjab and Haryana in the past six days.

Although no poultry death has been reported in the region, the bird flu scare has hit the poultry industry hard.

Those associated with the poultry industry have expressed displeasure on the way the administration tackled the situation.

Dr SK Khanna, former Assistant Poultry Development Officer, Haryana, said virus scare has not only created panic among residents, it has caused a loss of Rs 5 crore to the layer poultry farming and Rs 15 crore to the broiler farming sectors in the past 10 days. This is the season when poultry farmers look ahead for profit due to increased demand. Dr Khanna also ruled out the possibility of virus in chicken.

Darshan Singla and Jaswinder Singh, presidents of poultry farmers’ associations in Haryana and Punjab claimed domesticated birds in Barwala and in Punjab have not shown any signs of bird flu yet.