Anxious wait for test results as count of dead birds in Capital climbs to 140

NEW DELHI: More than 140 birds, mostly crows, have been found dead across locations in Delhi over the past four days, with the state government declaring the Sanjay Lake area an “alert zone” after 17 more ducks were found dead on Sunday, even as district officials were directed to ensure that unauthorised wholesale poultry markets remained closed for 10 days amid concerns of the spread of avian influenza.

The move came a day after the Delhi government announced the closure of the Ghazipur wholesale poultry market for 10 days and banned the import of live birds in the Capital as a preventive measure to stop the potential spread of bird flu.

The dead birds — recorded till Sunday afternoon — have been found in groups ranging between two to 17 in places that include the green area around Sanjay Lake, Hastsal Park, Golden Jubilee Park, an area near the Red Fort and several other parks in Mayur Vihar, Yojana Vihar, Preet Vihar’s sectors 5 and 9 in Dwarka, Dilshad Garden and Ashok Niketan, a senior government official said.

“So far, more than 140 dead birds have been found across several locations in the city – of which 27 are ducks and the rest are crows,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

He said samples of 115 birds — which include samples taken from both dead birds and live birds – have so far been sent for testing from Delhi. The first set of results is scheduled to arrive on Monday, the official added.

A helpline set up by the Delhi government received 120 bird death-related calls in three days, said the official quoted above, adding that only instances in which two or more birds were found dead in a location at a time were added in the total figure and eventually considered for sampling. “For a group of birds found dead in one location, samples would often be collected from a few,” said the official.

Another senior government official said district officials have been directed to make sure unauthorised wholesale poultry markets in their areas are shut for the next 10 days. “District officials have been asked to ensure closure of unauthorised poultry markets as a preventive step against the possible spread of bird flu,” the official added.

Delhi has a daily demand of about 350,000 poultry birds, of which around 250,000 are supplied from Ghazipur market, said a government official. The remaining comes from unauthorised poultry markets scattered across the city, the official added.

The green area of Sanjay Lake, which is popular among joggers in east Delhi localities, has been declared an “alert zone” by the government’s animal husbandry department. Access to the area – which has a concrete boundary wall – is prohibited and it is being periodically sanitised, said the first official quoted above.

“Sanjay Lake was declared an alert zone with an increase in the number of dead ducks from 10 to 27. The rapid response team of the animal husbandry department visited the site today again,” said a senior official of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) – the agency that maintains the lake and the area around it. “The dead birds have been buried deep in the ground on the instruction of experts,” the official said.

Dr Rakesh Singh, the director of Delhi’s animal husbandry department said, “In Delhi, it has so far been only crows and ducks. We are closely monitoring the situation.”