Satrasal (Dhubri), Feb. 3: Two gloved hands closed around the chicken’s neck. A practised jerk and Pradeep Sil froze in pain.

As the culling team carefully went about its task at his poultry farm in Dhubri’s Ramrai Kuti Part-I village, Sil drew a sharp breath and looked away. The air was beginning to smell of blood, every drop robbing the poultry owner of a lifetime of hard work.

The outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring Bengal has begun showing side-effects in Assam.

Import of poultry and eggs from Bengal had already been banned and, now, the order to cull birds in parts of Dhubri and Kokrajhar which border Bengal.

Over 5,000 birds were killed in the border villages in the two districts today and the operation will continue tomorrow.

“I am fed up with this poultry farming business. Every now and then, there is news of bird flu, people stop eating chicken and we have to face huge losses. But this time, I have decided to wind up my business,” Sil said, who had set up his farm after a frustrating round of job-hunting in government offices.

A full-grown bird fetches Rs 100 in the market, but as compensation he will receive only Rs 40 per bird from the government, said Sil. For every month-old chick, which he bought for Rs 18, the administration will cough up only Rs 10.

“Add to that the cost of the chicken feed for one month. Altogether, 750 birds will be culled in my farm and I will incur a loss of Rs 40,000. Next time bird flu breaks out, the team will come once more to kill my birds. How long will this go on?” Sil asked.

That was precisely the question on the minds of hundreds of villagers of Ramrai Kuti Part-I —some 10km from National Highway 31 — when the Rapid Response Team arrived at the village, headed by vet Anowar Hussain Molla.

Hussain said five Rapid Response Team were engaged today, each headed by a veterinarian. From tomorrow, 29 Rapid Response Teams will be in action to cull approximately 35,000 birds, including ducks, in the areas along the Bengal border.

After culling is through, a 2 cubic metre pit is dug, a layer of lime sprinkled and then the gunny bags containing the slaughtered chicken are laid to rest.

After spraying sodium hypo chloride on the bags, the pit is covered with soil and marked so that no one can dig out the gunny bags after the culling team is gone.

As the flu spread in Bengal, the Union government felt it was not enough to ban the sale of chicken in the border areas.

Officials at the inter-state check-gate in Srirampur were already on an alert to prevent entry of chicken and eggs from Bengal.

Last Friday, Delhi instructed Dispur to begin culling operations in the border villages of Kokrajhar and Dhubri to pre-empt any possibility of the virus spreading in Assam.

The Dhubri administration hurriedly put together a team to begin culling operations in the district, which shares a 30-km border with Bengal.

When the culling team resumes its operation tomorrow, hundreds like Sil will feel the gag every time the expert hands reach out for another throat.