Tight vigil at border checkposts in Nilgiris

Udhagamandalam: The animal husbandry department has intensified vigil at checkposts on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala interstate border in Gudalur and Pandalur taulks in the district following an outbreak of bird flu in Allepey and Kottayam districts.
Transportation of poultry from Kerala and some places in Karnataka that are located close to Kerala border has been banned, collector J Innocent Divya said.
The checkposts include Kakkanallah, Nambiar Kunnu, Thalur, Nadugani and Pattavayal, among others.
Headed by an assistant veterinarian, a team has been deputed in each of the eight checkposts. With coordination with other departments such as forest, revenue and police besides the veterinary teams, all the eight have been kept under scanner.
The collector has requested the poultry owners in the district to be vigil and inform the authorities in case of suspicious deaths of birds in their poultry.
"We are checking the vehicles entering the district from Kerala and Karnataka at eight checkposts and goods vehicles are fumigated," an official from the animal husbandry department said. tnn