The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) has decided to go slow on the pig hunt ordered by the state government on Tuesday.

Reason: last year's bitter experience and the fear of backlash from pig owners.

The civic body last year had to undergo much hassle to find a suitable place to keep the captured pigs and arrange for their food.

Nabanna issued a note on Tuesday that said a drive would be organised to remove pigs from Calcutta, Howrah and Salt Lake because pigs were "amplifying hosts" for the virus that caused Japanese Encephalitis.

After a meeting with chief minister Mamata Banerjee, mayor Sovan Chatterjee had said on Tuesday that the civic body would start catching pigs in the city and owners would be compensated.

A civic body source said on Wednesday a combination of factors has forced them to go slow. Apart from last year's experience, officials were apprehensive of a hostile reaction from pig owners ahead of the civic elections. Also, there were logistical issues, he said.

More than 200 pigs were captured last year in July and August.

On a few occasions, civic officials had to deal with hostile owners who refused to part with their pigs.

Moreover, civic officials were not trained and they had a hard time catching pigs. Often they had to run behind the animals trying to flee.

"We have about Rs 1.5 lakh in our account that was raised through auctioning of the captured pigs," an official said. "We are yet to compensate the owners. So, why get into more trouble?" he asked.

Another official said the civic body planned to undertake raids within a couple of days. "We will prepare the logistics before launching the drive," he said.

On Wednesday, the CMC undertook an awareness campaign for pig owners in the Taratala area.

"We made announcements from a moving car asking the owners to keep their pigs inside mosquito nets," a CMC official said.

Pigs are a "host" of the Japanese Encephalitis virus. It reproduces in their bodies and infects mosquitoes that bite them. It spreads among humans through mosquito bites.

A public health expert said there were not many cases of Japanese Encephalitis in the state at present.

So, the government would do better to focus on combating swine flu that has claimed five lives in the state so far, the expert said.

Swine flu transmits through air and human touch; mostly through droplets coming out of the nose or mouth when an infected person sneezes or coughs.

Getting close to a patient with uncovered nose or coming in contact with objects touched by a patient such as door handles, handrails and phones can lead to an infection.

The H1N1 virus, which originated in pigs and mutated to affect humans, causes swine flu. But pigs have no role in the present transmission chain of the virus.