KANGRA: Around 1,700 migratory birds, most of them bar-headed geese, have been found dead under mysterious circumstances in and around Himachal Pradesh’s Pong Dam lake In Kangra district, prompting the authorities to suspend tourism in the area. The sale and purchase of poultry has also been banned in some parts of the district as a precautionary measure against the possibility of a bird flu outbreak. Three states in the country have detected Avian Influenza cases in the last few days.
Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, Kangra’s district magistrate, has ordered that no human or livestock be allowed to go in and around a one-kilometre radius of the reservoir till further notice. A surveillance zone with radius nine kilometres has also been established around the water body to monitor the incident.
Mr Prajapati has prohibited slaughtering, sale, purchase and export of any poultry, birds, fish of any breed and their related products, including eggs, meat, chicken, etc, in Fatehpur, Dehra, Jawali and Indora subdivisions of the district, an official order read.
Exercising his powers under Sections 34 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the official said that shops selling these products would also remain closed in these four subdivisions, news agency has reported.
Bird flu is a highly infectious and severe respiratory disease in birds caused by the H5N1 influenza virus, which can occasionally infect humans as well. (AGENCY)
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