Rourkela, Jan. 10: Culling operations at Kacharu gram panchayat were peaceful today. The administration plans to stop the operation after it is completed today.

The administration carried out the culling of birds at Kacharu village for the third consecutive day today.

Anticipating trouble because of protests yesterday, the administration deployed another platoon of police force.

Villagers yesterday had been dissatisfied with the mode of payment and the amount fixed by the government for each bird culled, because of which the operation got stalled at Kariatola, Jamuntola and Chataktola villages.

They wanted to know that if the government was paying Rs 115 a bird, that too, instantly at Keranga village in Khurda district, what prevented them from doing the same here.

However, the operation was peaceful today as the villagers were told they were being paid compensation at the scheduled rate.

Panposh sub-collector Himanshu Behera said villagers were being paid on the spot after the culling.

"The government will build chicken shelters under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. However, four to five persons should come together for one such shelter. Many villagers have shown interest in this," he added.

Allaying fears that the chicken population would be totally destroyed, Behera said: "We are going to provide villagers with chicks shortly and these will be sourced through the Integrated Tribal Development Agency."

Inspector in charge of Biramitrapur police station D.P. Das, who was on the culling spot, said: "The villagers were voluntarily giving away their birds to the culling teams."

So far, 1,120 birds have been culled, 428 eggs and two kilograms of feeds have been destroyed, said chief veterinary officer Sudarshan Sahu, who is manning the temporary control room here.

Sahu said the operation had almost come to its final stage today and it would be over shortly. "The teams are conducting the final operation and any bird found in anyone's possession will be culled," he said.