Situation alarming, says Buddha

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday described the bird flu outbreak in the state as 8220;alarming8221;, even as panic gripped Kolkata following death of some birds in the city. Amid reports of slow pace of culling operations in Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts, the Chief Minister said: 8220;We will have to kill four lakh birds in the affected districts. We have decided to increase the strength of the culling teams.8221; Medical college hospitals of Burdwan, Bankura and East Midnapore have also been put on alert, Bhattacharjee added.