Bird flu: 90 geese culled in Sukhna Lake
The killings were carried out as a precautionary measure to prevent any outbreak of the bird flu in the city and adjoining areas.
Authorities culled 90-odd geese and cordoned off the Sukhna lake on Thursday after a sample of geese from the lake tested positive for bird flu. An alert was raised in Punjab and Haryana.
The geese were culled on the island in the middle of the lake this evening, Director of Chandigarh's Animal Husbandry Department Prince Dhawan said, PTI reported.
The killings were carried out as a precautionary measure to prevent any outbreak of the bird flu in the city and adjoining areas.
Proper sterilisation methods were followed in the culling process, Dhawan said, adding that the entire lake would remain out of bounds till further orders and the adjoining Lake Club has also been shut down for time being.
Meanwhile, state-run Central Poultry Development Organisation on Thursday said it has halted all the supplies of eggs and birds as a precautionary measure.
"We have stopped the sale of all birds and eggs because of bird flu scare," CPDO (Northern Region), Director, K Ravvi Kumarr said.
The supplies remain suspended for 30 days, he said.
CPDO supplies hatching eggs to government-owned organisations of nine states including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, besides selling chickens and eggs among public.
Earlier, Dhawan, who is also the Union Territory's nodal officer for avian flu control measures, and other officials of the department held a meeting with senior officials of Chandigarh administration where a decision to cull the birds was arrived at.
Nearly 35 geese had died at the lake recently under mysterious circumstances.
The Chandigarh administration sounded an alert after it was confirmed that one of the ducks had died of H5N1.
Haryana and Punjab Raj Bhawans and residences of some of the top bureaucrats are located in the vicinity of the lake, which according to the Chandigarh's Tourism Department witnesses 7,000 to 8,000 footfalls on weekdays and anywhere between 10,000 to 12,000 on weekends.
With the city's famous tourist attraction remaining shut, the local tourism industry is likely to get affected.
UT administration officials said they were fully prepared to handle any contingency and people have been requested to co-operate with the authorities.
Meanwhile, Punjab's Health and Family Welfare Minister Surjit Kumar Jayani today directed the state health officials to take preventive measures to check the outbreak of the dreaded avian influenza in Punjab.
The minister also said the poultry products from Chandigarh would be checked at the entry points.
Several teams of medical officers from Mohali have been deputed to conduct a survey in the adjoining region.
Jayani said the teams have been asked to explore the habitats in Kansal and Naya Gaon areas and other villages adjoining Sukhna lake region.
The minister has directed the health officials to create special isolation wards with necessary facilities in government hospitals.
Haryana Health Department officials said they were coordinating with their UT counterparts and following the guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry.
A Haryana government spokesman said that no advisory or alert had been issued by the Union Government to the state.
The health officials in nearby Panchkula district have been directed survey the areas close to the Sukhna lake.
An isolation facility has been made available in the General Hospital (GH), Panchkula if any suspected cases are reported.