Members of the culling team at work. Picture by Biplab Basak

Siliguri, March 28: Culling operation in Jalpaiguri district on the first day was delayed as vehicles carrying special gears and uniform from Calcutta broke down at Murshidabad last night.

The district administration then made use of the existing stock that it had in its possession. Culling started after 6.30pm at Bhoterbari, 9km from Jalpaiguri town under Mondalghat gram panchayat.

The district administration has denied that the culling had started late.

“In Jalpaiguri Sadar block, there are no major poultry farms. Most of the birds are pets and come back to their coops only after the sun sets. We realised that it would be better to cull them after darkness fell. The birds would have come back by then,” said R. Ranjit, the district magistrate.

The Bengal government had yesterday declared the Jalpaiguri district bird flu-affected. Malda has already tested positive for H5N1 virus.

The Jalpaiguri district administration has fixed a target of 8,000 birds on the first day of the operation. Fifty culling teams with five members each have started operations simultaneously in the Sadar block, Wards 7 to 14 of the Jalpaiguri Municipality and at Barnish and Dharampur villages of Mainaguri. The exercise will continue till late at night.

“The culling of nearly 50,000 poultry birds will be completed in the next couple of days,” the district magistrate said.

The vehicle carrying the special gear had broken down at Raghunathganj in Murshidabad.

After the culling, the villagers will be given documents, which will mention the amount of compensation that each of them are entitled to. They will collect the money from the respective panchayats by producing the document the next day.

Compensation for an egg-yielding hen has been fixed at Rs 40 and the amount for a poultry bird Rs 30. A farmer would get Rs 10 for a chick.

Alarmed by the outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring Jalpaiguri, the Siliguri subdivisional administration has taken a precautionary measure to prevent the disease from spreading.

ARD workers will spray disinfectants on vehicles coming from Jalpaiguri at Tinbatti More, the entry point to Siliguri, from tomorrow.

The decision was taken by Smita Pandey, the subdivisional officer of Siliguri.