The West Bengal Poultry Welfare Association, representing the state’s poultry and hatchery owners, plans to hold a chicken mela on February 20 at the Town Hall. The decision was taken at a meeting on Thursday.

Undeterred by chicken deaths still being reported from other parts of the state, poultry owners do not want to continue facing losses anymore. The mela aims at generating awareness and attracting chicken consumers back to poultry markets.

“We are inviting ministers, senior police officers and celebrities to the mela,” said Tapas Bandopadhyay, president of the association.

Those who figure on the invitation list include cricketer Sourav Ganguly, Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, ministers Subhas Chakraborty, Anisur Rahman and Surjya Kanta Mishra. Their participation is yet to be confirmed.

Even with the end of the ban, the poultry industry is still struggling to push their products to the consumer. As per industry estimates, Kolkata alone consumes around 2 lakh chickens and around 2 crore eggs daily.

Industry sources add that sales will take another month to jump back to the earlier status. Hence, the need for aggressive marketing ¿ the mela illustrates this.

But poultry products are still barred from railways and flights. “Railways aren’t picking poultry products from some stations. Flights also need to restart taking our products. Supplies have yet not resumed to these sectors,” a poultry owner said.