The US government is offering machinery for mechanised culling of birds to the Indian government and affected states like West Bengal. | |
| According to Henry V Jardine, the US consul general in Kolkata, the the US embassy in Delhi was touch with the Central government for offering mechanised culling techniques during the bird flu outbreak in West Bengal in January. |
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| Government employees have been culling chickens manually for the last two months in West Bengal, and many of them had protested at having to do such a slow and horrible job. |
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| Now that bird flu has resurfaced, the US government was once again willing to offer machinery for culling operations in West Bengal, he said. |
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| Calling the bird flu outbreak a "serious concern for America", Jardine said the US government could also offer financial aid to the Indian government. |
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| Anisur Rahaman, state animal resources development minister, told Business Standard from Coimbatore, where he is attending the 19th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). |
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| "All the culling operations are being done according to the guidelines by the Central government. If mechanised culling is introduced, it will be helpful in carrying out culling operations. So far, we do not have any intimation from the Centre in this regard." |
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| The target of culling birds in Malda, the third district to be affected by bird flu since the second outbreak of the disease, would be decided once the population of birds in the area was ascertained as, there were discrepancies in the census figures for birds in the district, the minister said. |
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| However, culling operation would terminate in Malda in the next two three days, he added. |
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