10,000 more birds culled on Day 6

Panchkula, January 14

The district administration today culled a total of 10,025 birds and destroyed 816 eggs at Narender Poultry Farm to contain the spread and break the chain of transmission of avian influenza or bird flu. This was the sixth day of its culling drive.

So far, 47,720 birds have been culled while 2,156 eggs have been destroyed. Calls made to the local authorities to know the status of confirmatory reports awaited from Bhopal were not answered.

Seven crows found dead near Mohali crematorium

Mohali: Seven crows were found dead near a crematorium here today.

On receiving information, officials from the Wildlife Department took them to the veterinary hospital in Balongi. Their samples were taken and sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Jalandhar for testing.

Narinder Pandey, the incharge of the crematorium, said the crows were found lying under trees around 10 am. The matter was reported to the police control room. Police personnel rushed to the spot and informed the Animal Husbandry Department. However, no one from the department reached there for four hours.

Some animal husbandry officials said they were only collecting samples of chickens and it was the responsibility of the wildlife department. On the other hand, an official of the wildlife department said the investigation would be carried out by the Animal Husbandry Department.

Divisional Forest Officer Monica Yadav said she had approached the Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, who sent the staff to the spot.

40 herons found dead

Dera Bassi: Nearly 40 herons were found dead in the fields of Bhagsi village. Residents of the village said they were hitting upon heron carcasses in the fields for the past three-four days. They said they had informed the Health Department about this three days ago but no official reached the village to check the situation. Village residents said department officials told them a team would come tomorrow and collect samples of the dead birds. —TNS