A herd of pigs grazing in the trenching ground at Belgachhiea. Pictures by Gopal Senapati

There is a 10,000 plus pig population in Howrah that can prove to be a severe threat to public health in the aftermath of outbreak of encephalitis in north Bengal. Though pigs are found mostly in and around the burning ghats of Howrah, the Belgachhiea trenching ground can be called a safe haven for the pig community.

“Most of the pigs are noticed in Belgachhiea B Road, C Road, Lichubagan and Bamungachhi area. We have already held a meeting at the Liluah police station in which the owners of the pigs were asked to be present. We have decided to build an enclosure within the trenching ground using tin and bamboo and the owners of the pigs have agreed to keep their pigs within this enclosure so they may not roam the locality,” said Gautam Choudhury, member, mayor-in-council, Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC).

He said adding, “We have also started circulating an appeal printed in Hindi and Bengali urging the pig-owners to bring their pigs in that temporary shelter at the trenching ground. So far, the response has been good.” The civic body swung into action after the state government issued a directive asking all the civic bodies to remove pigs from the area of their jurisdiction. The decision of the drive against pigs was taken in an emergency meeting held at HMC on Saturday.

A litter of piglets at the Shibpur burning ghat

The opposition parties, however, are sceptical about the measures taken by the civic body. According to them, by just confining a few thousand pigs mostly found in the Belgachhiea area is not going to lessen the danger of encephalitis in Howrah. Because a large number of pigs are found in Tikiapara, Fakir Bagan, Tinkarinath Bose Lane, Bellilious Road, Shibpur burning ghat and many other places. “The TMC led civic body is not serious about driving away pigs from Howrah town. They are only interested in doing lip-service. If they were serious, they would have taken a foolproof action plan for driving away pigs,” said Umesh Rai, president, Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

He said that the dumping ground at Tinkarinath Bose Lane was a big one in which hundreds of pigs roamed. “The civic body should not take the threat of encephalitis lightly. There are a large number of pigs in different parts of Howrah. They could spread encephalitis any moment,” said Rai. The civic body should use the government directive for removing the pigs from the burning ghats seriously because a large number of people from different parts of Howrah town visit the ghats every day. “Most of the burning ghats are amidst dirty surroundings. There are filth and squalor around the burning ghats in which pigs roam freely. People visiting the burning ghat can be bitten by mosquitoes carrying encephalitis. So it is high time that the civic body removes pigs from burning ghats,” said Subhrojyoti Das, a youth Congress leader.

MIC, conservancy, however, is hoping that pig owners themselves will round up their pigs and bring them to the Belgachhiea trenching ground where the civic body has built an enclosure for them. “Though we have not been able to meet all the pig owners physically, we hope that they will respond to our request and bring their pigs to the temporary shelter.”