Centre okays Belgachia lab upgrade

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Express news service

Posted online: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 01:06:31
Updated: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 01:27:49

Kolkata, March 11 The Centre has agreed to the state government’s demand for upgrading the Belgachia-based Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL). State Minister for Animal Resources Development, Anisur Rehman, said this at the state Assembly on Tuesday.

The Centre has given a primary approval to upgrade the laboratory to Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) standard, he added.

Rehman, however, maintained that sporadic cases of bird flu could be seen for some years, as it is difficult to contain virus-borne diseases. He added that about 90 per cent of the state has remained unaffected and the 40 lakh birds, which have been culled, are only a small proportion of West Bengal’s poultry population.

Replying to a question on compensation, the minister said: “According to culling guidelines, an amount of Rs 40 (egg-laying bird), Rs 30 (meat-yielding bird), Rs 10 (chickens) and Rs 6 per kg for destroying bird feed have been paid to the affected villagers. Also, the one-time aid of Rs 500 per family is being paid in the affected areas. The work will be completed in about 20 days.”

So far, an amount of Rs 55.25 crore has been sanctioned by the state and the Centre to meet bird flu expenditure. Of this, the Centre has contributed Rs 8.5 crore. In total, the affected districts have already been given Rs 24.22 lakh for meeting their expenses, he added. Rehman further said he has not received any complaint from any quarter on improper distribution of funds.

Meanwhile, the animal resources development department has said that about 5,500 birds were culled in the affected areas of Murshidabad on Monday. A similar number of birds were to be culled on Tuesday. According to a senior department official, 65 teams are active in the affected regions. Police officers have been posted in sufficient numbers to ensure safety of the teams.

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