A duck being culled at Ghoklajote in Matigara on Tuesday. (Kundan Yolmo)

Siliguri, Jan. 6: The culling of birds in the Siliguri subdivision is complete and the mop-up operation will commence from tomorrow, the Darjeeling district administration today said.

The administration had engaged 30 teams comprising officials of the state animal resource development (ARD) department, police and block development office to cull around 25,624 chickens and ducks within a 3km-radius of Benoy Krishna Pally. The village in the Matigara block where the avian flu virus was detected was designated the epicentre from where the infection spread.

“Till date, around 26,200 bids have been culled and 30,168 eggs and 1,476 kilos of poultry feed destroyed. Feedback from the teams suggests that culling has been concluded in the area earmarked for the operation after identification of the epicentre,” Surendra Gupta, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, said. “We have decided to start mop-up operation from tomorrow. It will take around two days to complete the exercise.”

On payment of compensation, the district magistrate said: “Money against each bird had been paid on the spot. So far, there has been no problem. Once we get over with the mop-up, an additional Rs 500 will be paid to each of the affected families.”

Sale of chickens and eggs, however, will remain suspended at the markets in Siliguri and its suburbs till further notification, Gupta said.

Retailers in Siliguri have hinted at a loss of around Rs 1 crore because of the outbreak of bird flu. “Our business has totally stopped after the infection was reported last week,” said Ratan Pal, the general secretary of Siliguri Poultry Byabsayee Samiti.

The state information department at Writers’ Buildings in Calcutta said 55,654 birds had been destroyed in Malda and in the Matigara and Takdah areas of Darjeeling district. The ARD department has till January 4 paid Rs 9.66 lakh as compensation to the affected people.