Avian flu hits livelihood of 2K fishermen, poultry farmers

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, January 6

Avian flu that has killed about 2,700 birds in the Pong Dam lake in Kangra district has also hit the livelihood of about 2,000 fisherman and poultry farmers of the region. After it was confirmed that it was avian flu H5N1 virus that was killing migratory birds, the district administration has banned all activities in 1-km periphery of the lake.

The fishermen were asked to remove their nets from the lake area and all meat shops in four subdivisions of the district — Dehra, Fatehpur, Indora and Jawali — were closed down till further orders. Rakesh Kumar, a fisherman of Dehra, said, “Winter is the peak earning season for us. The demand for fish is more during this season and we get high prices for our catch. However, now that fishing has been banned in the Pong Dam lake, our livelihood will be hit badly”.

Sources said there are five fishing societies in the lake area each having over 300 members. Locals, who were members of the fishing societies, catch fish from the lake and sell it in fishing societies to traders from Punjab. Many families, which lost their lands to the construction of the lake, were now engaged in catching fish. Now, due to the avian flu threat, these fishermen were likely to lose their livelihood.

Similar is the plight of poultry farmers. Naresh Sharma, a poultry farmer from Nagrota, said the demand for poultry products had come to a naught since the avian flu news spread in the region. Ajay Mahajan, district president of the Congress, told The Tribune that the government should compensate fishermen and poultry farmers of the lake area for the loss of livelihood.

Rakesh Prajapati, DC, Kangra, said measures to ban the sale of meat and other activities in the lake area had been taken to prevent the spread of avian flu in humans. Asked about the financial losses to fishermen and poultry farmers, he said their grievances would be conveyed to the state government.