Maharashtra bans poultry from five states

MUMBAI: In the wake of the outbreak of bird flu in a few states recently, officials of the animal husbandry department have started destroying the truck loads of eggs that had come in other states. Though poultry produce from five states has been banned from entering into the state, the department has claimed that the state has sufficient poultry produce to meet its own demand.

The department has recently decided to ban poultry, eggs and feed that comes from Orrisa, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar. Though nearly 40 per cent of the supply to Maharashtra is from Andhra Pradesh, the department has also has sought the government’s permission to include it in the list of banned states, too.

Animal husbandry minister Anees Ahmed said, “Our department has so far destroyed a huge stock of eggs that were supplied at 20 paise per egg. We were apprehensive about the stock and thought it was appropriate to destroy it.” Though the minister did not have the statistics on the supply of poultry products from other states, he said despite the ban, poultry produce within the state was enough to cater to the needs of people in the state.

The minister clarified that there were no chances of a bird flu outbreak in the state. “We have been sending sera samples from every taluka to the high-security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal from time to time. The reports so far have been negative,” he said.

 “Nearly 8,000 animal husbandry officials and their 300 assistants will ensure that birds or eggs from other states are not brought into Maharashtra. The ban on the products will be on till the centre announces that the country is free from bird flu,” said an officer from the department.

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