90 trucks with chicken and eggs stranded on Kerala border

 
BANGALORE: With neighbouring Kerala still unwilling to let in poultry from Karnataka because of the fear of bird flu, more than 50 egg-laden and 40 chicken-laden trucks have been stuck at the Palakkad checkpost for up to 10 days. These trucks, most of them carrying poultry from Mysore, are waiting for permission from the authorities in Kerala to enter the state.

In Bangalore alone, wholesale egg dealers are said to have already suffered a loss of about Rs 3 crore, while chicken suppliers have lost out on business of more than Rs 20 lakh due to the fall in demand because of bird flu.

“Hundreds of egg and chicken-laden trucks have been stopped at the Palakkad checkpost, the entry point to Kerala, for the past 10 days,” said BR Sainath, zonal president, National Egg Coordination Committee, Bangalore. “Hundreds of truck drivers and cleaners have been struggling due to the lack of food and other basic amenities. Hundreds of chicken have already died near the Palakkad checkpost due to the lack of water and feeding facility.”

Sainath said each truck was loaded with 1.15 lakh eggs and the suppliers were expected to incur a huge loss if the authorities further delayed permission for the trucks to enter Kerala.

“Kerala is considered the favourite destination for the poultry industry in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” Sainath said. “The state government has to do something to facilitate the entry of the trucks into Kerala.”

Aravind Jannu, principal secretary, animal husbandry department, said efforts were being made to convince Kerala government officials to allow the trucks to enter their state. “They want us to clarify whether the eggs and chicken were from the avian influenza-infected poultry farm at the Central Poultry Development Organisation and Training Institute, Hesaraghatta, or from other parts of Karnataka,” Jannu said.

“We’ve sent a detailed letter to them. Talks are on and we’re hopeful of convincing them as early as possible.”

Jannu said culling work at Hesaraghatta had been completed and the cleaning process was in progress.

“We’ve collected 440 blood samples from 20 poultries and 68 villages in a 10-km radius of Hesaraghatta, the epicentre of the outbreak of avian influenza,” he said.

“We’re waiting for results from the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal. So far, the surveillance teams have not found any person or chicken at poultry farms [to be] affected with avian influenza.”