2 months on, Jalgaon waits for ‘clean’ tag

Two months after the deadly H5N1 virus hit over 800 villages in Jalgaon, the clean-up operations have been tangled in red tape.

Two months after the deadly H5N1 virus hit over 800 villages in Jalgaon, the clean-up operations have been tangled in red tape. The reason: the state government now wants to invite tenders for sanitising the place. So, while the poultry samples from Jalgaon are testing negative, it cannot be declared bird flu-free as it has not been sanitised.

‘‘If we had to float tenders and then carry out sanitisation work, the digging of pits would have taken at least a month,’’ an official in the Animal Husbandry Department said. ‘‘During an emergency, there is hardly any time for issuing tenders. Culling is over, but sanitising at some places still remains to be completed,’’ Jalgaon district collector Vijay Singhal told The Indian Express. Jalgaon zilla parishad CEO Madhukar Gaikwad also admitted that sanitising was yet to be completed.

The state government had set up a committee of the district collector, zilla parishad CEO and the district animal husbandry officer for culling, disposing of the infected birds and sanitising the area. But now, the state government has ‘‘objected’’ to the committee’s decisions. The State Finance Department has also termed the overhead expenses incurred by the Animal Husbandry Department for burning faecal matter and infected poultry feed as ‘‘unauthorised’’.

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After bird flu was detected in Navapur on February 18, the state had released Rs 6 crore to tackle the virus. Of that, Rs 2 crore was spent in Navapur — over Rs 1 crore for compensation and Rs 85 lakh on overheads. Jalgaon spent Rs 25 lakh each on compensation and overhead expenses during the first phase.

It will be at least another month before sanitising begins after tenders are issued and three months before birds can be re-stocked at the poultry units. Jalgaon, it seems, will be out of business till then.

anuradha.mascarenhas@expressindia.com

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