Noida: After the animal husbandry department of New Delhi confirmed the presence of bird flu in the city, both Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar stopped the entry of chicken and eggs from other states for sale or consumption as a precautionary measure against the spread of the avian flu.
While no incidents have so far been detected in Noida or Ghaziabad, the chief vets of both cities have been running special inspections and sampling of the poultry farms.
Mahesh Kumar, chief veterinary officer (CVO) of Ghaziabad, said, “The inward movement of poultry and eggs from other states has been stopped. Regular sampling and testing is being carried out at our own poultry farms. So far, no incident has been reported.”
Virendra Kumar Srivastava, CVO of GB Nagar, added that in Noida, too, preventive action had started a few days ago. “Regular preventive vigilance is in place at the poultry farms. We have restricted entry of chicken and eggs from other states,” he said.
However, KD Singh, nodal officer and in charge of bird-flu sampling and tests in Ghaziabad, said that there is no restriction on sale of local poultry. “Only entry of poultry from other states is curbed,” he said.
Ghaziabad has three large poultry farms and Noida, Greater Noida have two. However, there is panic among residents following the flu outbreak in Delhi.
PK Srivastava, district forest officer (DFO) of Ghaziabad, said that they are getting a lot of calls from panic-stricken locals after stray incidents of pigeon deaths from residential areas. “In the bird sanctuaries we have asked birders to be careful and avoid spots where there is possibility of close contact with birds. We have also asked birders to immediately inform if they catch sight of any dead waterfowl,” he added.
The forest department has also deployed a rapid response Team (RRT) in Ghaziabad. “We will respond to bird deaths when at least five birds are reported dead at once. Individual bird deaths can be caused by various reasons and not particularly bird flu. We have received information about a dead owl, but it was killed by a kite string. Ghaziabad does not get a huge flock of migratory birds because there are no conserved large water bodies. The forest areas get some birds, the most visible bird population in big numbers here are pigeons and crows,” said Diksha Bhandari, Ghaziabad DFO.
GB Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY said, “With Delhi being almost next door, we are being cautious now. The rapid response teams are already functioning and so far we have not received any incident.”
While birders who have been regularly visiting the Okhla Bird sanctuary and other spots in the district have reported no incident so far, they think it’s a precarious time. “The water bodies of Noida and Greater Noida are thick with water fowls at this time and if the water fowls get the flu, raptors will automatically get contaminated,” birder Jaswinder Waraich said.
Sohini, another birder, added that one needs to wear a mask and shoot from a distance and clean their shoes when they enter home. “We don’t think there is any immediate reason for panic,” she said.
In Noida, birders have been restricted from climbing the watchtower in Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Surajpur wetland has been closed until further orders and Dhanauri wetlands has been put under surveillance.