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Singur, Nandigram, Kolkata fire and now bird flu! West Bengal is not having the best of times, of late, it seems. It has been confirmed that the death of thousands of chickens has been caused by the dreaded H5N1 virus, which might have come via Bangladesh. Since the variant is dangerous to human beings, it is among the biggest challenges the state faces. On paper, a contingency plan is already in operation, but reports from the two affected districts of Birbhum and Dakshin Dinajpur tell a sorry tale of mismanagement, with hundreds of dead chickens lying scattered. The sooner the rapid response teams start responding, the better, because the situation can worsen all too quickly.

The first priority, of course, is to ensure that human beings are not affected, especially the cullers who come in direct contact with the birds. Then there is the need to confine the disease within the 10-km radius of the area where the birds have been found to be affected. Poultry farmers have to be given adequate compensation. After all, more than 3.75 lakh birds may have to be culled. All these tasks can be accomplished only if the Centre and the state work in tandem.

What is more worrying is the fact that this is the third outbreak of bird flu in the country in two years. If it was Maharashtra in February 2006, it was Manipur in July 2007. There is need to go deeply into the reasons for these frequent outbreaks. One possible cause is the insensitivity of the local administration to such developments. For instance, the West Bengal government did issue an alert, which even reached the District Magistrate in time. But personnel of the animal husbandry department just did not act on it. Now that there are reasons to suspect that many people might have feasted on the infected birds, the pr0blem will be far more difficult to tackle. This tendency to delay unavoidable action must be curbed with a firm hand.

Even as culling of poultry began in West Bengal, reports of the deadly bird flu disease spreading to newer areas came in on Wednesday; with the state government issuing a general alert. Meanwhile, Margram village in Birbhum district has been declared the epicenter of the bird flu outbreak and sealed off from the rest of the country.

The state government has confirmed that the flu is spreading to Murshidabad and two new blocks in Birbhum. More poultry birds are dying with symptoms of bird flu in other parts of the state, including Burdwan, South 24 Parganas, Nadia and Malda.

It was learnt that the animal husbandry department in New Delhi has pulled up the state for its delay in taking measures to prevent the outbreak. While the birds started dying on January 4, the state informed the Centre a week later - resulting in delay in public awareness campaigns. Moreover, culling in the vulnerable Margram village started around 1 p.m. on Wednesday 15 January - a full 24 hours after the Centre confirmed existence of the deadly disease in Bengal.

The operation could not gain momentum till Wednesday evening, following the state government’s failure to properly train the health workers and spread public awareness campaigns in Rampurhat and Balurghat. The poor villagers also tried to escape killing their birds by selling them outside and releasing them in the nearby fields.

Director of Health Services Sailchita Bakshi said, “The culling process was a little delayed in the affected districts. Around 1,500 chickens were disposed of in Birbhum district on the first day. A team of experts from Delhi is coming to the city on Thursday to take stock of the situation. They will also hold meetings with state health and animal resource development officials.” The Centre has sent another 20,000 doses of Tamiflu - the medicine used to treat bird flu - to add to the state’s existing stock of 3,700 doses.